Less concrete, more jungle in L.A.

AT THE END of last year, Los Angeles County adopted a new target to remove and replace 1,600 acres of pavement with green infrastructure including trees, plants and rain gardens by 2045 as part of its ongoing Sustainability Plan.

- DEVON PROVO GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

In doing so, the county aims to join a growing number of cities worldwide that are ditching pavement to respond to ecological vulnerabilities.While depaving efforts in places like Chicago and Portland, Ore., have largely been driven by residents and nonprofit groups, L.A.'s plan marks the first explicit depaving target from a major U.S. public agency, signaling an emerging shift in how policymakers are rethinking infrastructure.

Depaving, the act of removing asphalt and concrete in places where hardscape isn't needed, comes with the goal to create more space for vegetation, trees and soil that provide useful benefits like cooling and shade. Urban planners are increasingly turning to depaving as an adaptation strategy as extreme weather exposes the limits of aging civic infrastructure.

For more than a century, pavement offered American cities convenient solutions to pressing civic issues. In Los Angeles, the dusty and uneven dirt roads of the 1800s were paved over to make transit more efficient. Later, civil engineers applied concrete more broadly, using it to suppress weeds that would otherwise need to be trimmed, cover up contaminated soil that would be costly to clean and reduce maintenance costs for cash-strapped municipalities.