Engineers Reimagine Post-Pandemic Infrastructure Design Practices

Photo credit: John Christian Fjellestad, CC BY 2.0

As the pandemic continues to draw attention to infrastructure shortcomings all over the globe, engineers and city planners must ask themselves how they can contribute equitable and accessible industry decisions to a post-pandemic world. In an effort to confront this question, California’s Los Angeles County hosted a series of five webinars last year at the Los Angeles Headquarters Association, an organization designed to advance economic growth in the county.

The series ran from July to November and featured a long list of influential panelists including an L.A. City planning commissioner, regional non-profit executive, chief design officer at the L.A. mayor’s office, Lyft senior public policy manager, architects, and designers. Panelists addressed pervasive issues made plainer by the pandemic and our country’s present grappling with institutionalized racism and racial inequality.

Because engineering and design professionals have traditionally held a significant role in land use decision-making, panelists placed a focus on the professional’s duty to address the needs of a community. In the past, engineers have been key players in an approach that tells communities what they will receive without addressing (or even seeking out) the concerns of community residents.

Take, for example, the fact that women, specifically women of color and mothers with children, are more likely to ride the bus than men. Yet bus stops all around the country are essentially designed for the use of 30-year-old white men—individuals who may not be threatened by standing in the dark at night, or in the summer sun for twenty minutes. Furthermore, as discussion moderator Katherine Perez points out, community land-use decisions have often unevenly damaged diverse and low-income neighborhoods. Consider decisions regarding landfill or freeway locations—or any other variety of less-desirable infrastructure for that matter.

Webinar discussions highlighted the power that engineers have to address issues of equity through their creativity and influence on project budgets. As panelist Paul Moore, P.E., of the Arup professional services firm states, “[W]hile policymakers and planners can have fantastic ideas and intentions about how to reshape cities, it’s engineers who are often empowered to implement the ideas.”

The Los Angeles Headquarters Association webinars publicized the role of engineers in inclusive infrastructure. Moving forward, engineers around the world are responsible for the creation of equitable and sustainable value accrual practices through their infrastructure and design projects.

To learn more about the L.A. Headquarters Association webinars and panelists, click here.