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Los Angeles’s General Plan Land Use Element is composed of 35 Community Plans that cover the entire 473 square miles of the City.

Our City—rich in industry and creativity—has gained the unfortunate notoriety of being a major epicenter in the California housing crisis. The fundamental reason for our crisis is the same as in most global cities: an extreme shortage of housing, which has left Angelenos to face overcrowding, punishing commutes, or, all too often, homelessness.

City Planning is modernizing Los Angeles’s Zoning Code to align with contemporary planning needs. This is the first comprehensive update to the Code since 1946 and marks a major shift from strictly Euclidean zoning—the most common form of land use regulation in the United States—to a hybrid, or modular, zoning approach. 

Increasing rents, combined with the economic hit resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, have left more than 40,000 residents across Los Angeles homeless. On any given night there are men, women, and children who must resort to living on our streets, without access to shelter and basic medical attention.

Across the United States, cities are striving to be desirable places to live. From incentivizing the production of new affordable units to increasing the number of available housing options, cities like Los Angeles are doing their part to support the economic well-being of their neighborhoods.

Angelenos want a variety of affordable housing options in every part of the City. That is one of the top findings from City Planning’s housing poll. Responders also expressed the desire to expand tenant protections along with more, deeply affordable housing across the City.

While the broad economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are yet to be determined, the increase in the number of proposed housing units indicates a growth in demand for housing development.