Scenes from USC Architecture from my 4/3 guest talk, “Building Embedded Planning Praxis.” The invited lecture was delivered in the USC Master of Heritage Conservation graduate course, Heritage Conservation Policy and Planning.
Who’s the cat in the photo?! In 2003 in the MAUP program at UCLA Luskin Department of Urban Planning, I took an architecture theory course where I learned Professor Gregory Ulmer’s CATTt method for writing a manifesto. I would go on to use the CATTt to write my 1-page manifesto on Embedded Planning titled, “We Cannot Plan From Our Desks,” published in the October 2018 issue of APA’s Planning Magazine.
And now we’re a worldwide movement in planning theories and practices.
Photos by Meredith Drake Reitan, Professor & Associate Dean. Thanks for the invite to speak with your MHC students!
Join us at Whittier College Hartley House for “Embedded Planning is the Future,” a public talk on the present and future of street-level planning, followed by a feet on the street walking tour of Uptown Whittier.
Embedded Planning shifts the planner’s work from a desk to the streets. Created in the Florence-Firestone community in South Central LA, this praxis aims to rebuild trust and foster meaningful relationships with marginalized communities harmed by inequitable planning.
The talk features case studies, reflections, and personal experiences highlighting both the challenges and benefits of Embedded Planning in these times.
Coffee, tea, and pan dulce will be served. OUR EVENT IS FREE TO ALL.
When: Saturday, April 19, 2025, 10:30am to 1pm Where: Hartley House, Whittier College, 13741 Earlham Drive, Whittier, CA 90602
Thanks to Whittier College Hartley House Hub for Integrative and Applied Learning in Social Justice for event support!
Infographic courtesy of Duke’s undergraduate student group, Our Urban Future
On April 10th, I’m at Duke University with Our Urban Future for the invited public talk, “Embedded Planning is the Future.” I consider this Chapter 3 in the Embedded Planning speaking series. We’ll discuss Embedded Planning’s trajectory — including origins, challenges, and benefits — and examine why this praxis is the future of planning.
I’m doing the guest lecture “Embedded Planning is the Future” at UC Irvine with the Urban Studies Students Association. The event is free to all on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
Summary
Jonathan Pacheco Bell’s Embedded Planning approach revolutionizes planning practice by emphasizing street-level planning within the community rather than traditional desk-based methods. Developed by Bell in South Central LA and publicly introduced in 2018, this praxis seeks to rebuild trust and foster meaningful relationships with marginalized communities historically harmed by inequitable planning.
Embedded Planning involves planners working directly from community spaces and places, engaging residents in their everyday environments. This immersive approach helps planners gain a deeper understanding of local needs and aspirations, ensuring that community voices significantly shape planning decisions. By embedding themselves into neighborhoods, planners build strong, authentic relationships, moving beyond one-off, transactional, superficial consultations to create lasting and impactful partnerships.
Despite its support from communities, Embedded Planning has faced resistance from conventional planning practice and management, which has viewed this approach with skepticism. Working from the neighborhood to integrate community directly into planning processes challenges traditional methods and requires navigating complex dynamics between stakeholder expectations and regulatory constraints.
Since its inception, Embedded Planning has gained an international following among emerging planners who are eager to implement more inclusive practices. Bell’s talk will highlight real-world case studies, reflections, and personal experiences, while also showcasing the approach’s challenges and benefits. Attendees will learn how Embedded Planning fosters trust, informs better decision-making, and promotes more equitable community development. This emerging movement represents a crucial shift towards centering planning as an active and continuous process from within the community and represents the future of planning.
Cal Poly Pomona MURP students on a community walk in Florence-Firestone, September 7, 2024. Photo: Richard Belmudez
In Spring 2025, the Florence-Firestone Community Organization (FFCO) — where I proudly serve as Co-President — is partnering with Scripps and Pitzer colleges to integrate the Florence-Firestone neighborhood into these Environmental Analysis courses:
EA 086 SC: Environmental Justice (Scripps College)
MS 090: Ecodocumentary (Pitzer College)
Building on our past efforts, FFCO will host walking tours and discussions, conduct in-class guest lectures, and provide readings and resources to learn about our Florence-Firestone community in South Central LA.
Local news coverage of Florence-Firestone lamentably focuses on social ills. While the community endures challenges and struggles, there is more to it than the clickbait headlines. Our decades-long community-driven work proves it. The creation of Embedded Planning in Florence-Firestone, now a worldwide movement, proves it. The birth of FFCO as a community advocacy voice during COVID proves it. Florence-Firestone is a vibrant and historic community. Students will experience it.
Below is a variety of key resources on Florence-Firestone. I am proud to have worked on nearly all of these projects. These help reframe the narrative about our community. They tell a fuller story of partnerships, solidarity, and hope.
Florence-Firestone Community Organization Latin Labic & Expo Kermesse:
Florence-Firestone Community Organization and SELA Collaborative interview, including Embedded Planning origins in Florence-Firestone (starts at 5:25 min mark):
How a Tire Shop in South L.A. Became a Community Hub for Locals:
Cal Poly Pomona MURP student Abby Urquiza found some conspicuous Hostile Architecture in Tokyo. Last semester, we examined Hostile Architecture in the Planning & Control module in our course, URP 5120: Planning Ideas & Action. From our readings:
The city is engaged in a merciless struggle to make public facilities and spaces as ‘unlivable’ as possible for the homeless and the poor.
In 2024, what began in Florence-Firestone transformed into an international movement. Embedded Planning won.
When I started this praxis in South Central LA, some planning figureheads viewed street-level planning work with skepticism. Today, planning organizations are implementing Embedded Planning praxis as official policy. The City of Fort Wayne didn’t just adopt our approach — they embraced it fully, showing what’s possible when management supports planners working directly from community spaces.
This year validated what our community knew all along: We Cannot Plan From Our Desks.
Key transformations: • Fort Wayne’s formal implementation of Embedded Planning with full institutional support • Florence-Firestone Community Organization’s expansion of street-level programs • FFCO’s Latin Labic + Expo Kermesse bringing creative placemaking to South Central LA • Growing recognition through APA Planning Advocate and Pioneer awards • Cal Poly Pomona Urban and Regional Planning students advancing community-centered research
Looking ahead: As Embedded Planning expands globally in 2025, our focus remains clear — rebuilding trust through street-level planning while keeping our trailblazing work in Florence-Firestone as our north star.
To every planner now embedding themselves in communities, and to every community member who showed us the way: this transformation belongs to all of us. The future of planning isn’t in our offices. It’s on the streets, in the neighborhoods, with the people.
Jonathan Pacheco Bell’s Embedded Planning approach revolutionizes planning practice by emphasizing street-level planning within the community rather than traditional desk-based methods. Developed by Bell in South Central LA and publicly introduced in 2018, this praxis seeks to rebuild trust and foster meaningful relationships with marginalized communities historically harmed by inequitable planning.
Embedded Planning involves planners working directly from community spaces and places, engaging residents in their everyday environments. This immersive approach helps planners gain a deeper understanding of local needs and aspirations, ensuring that community voices significantly shape planning decisions. By embedding themselves into neighborhoods, planners build strong, authentic relationships, moving beyond one-off, transactional, superficial consultations to create lasting and impactful partnerships.
Despite its support from communities, Embedded Planning has faced resistance from conventional planning practice and management, which has viewed this approach with skepticism. Working from the neighborhood to integrate community directly into planning processes challenges traditional methods and requires navigating complex dynamics between stakeholder expectations and regulatory constraints.
Since its inception, Embedded Planning has gained an international following among emerging planners who are eager to implement more inclusive practices. Bell’s talk will highlight real-world case studies, reflections, and personal experiences, while also showcasing the approach’s challenges and benefits. Attendees will learn how Embedded Planning fosters trust, informs better decision-making, and promotes more equitable community development. This emerging movement represents a crucial shift towards centering planning as an active and continuous process from within the community and represents the future of planning.
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 2533 expanding amnesty for unpermitted ADUs. I’m proudly part of this effort in partnership with Casita Coalition, and the community of Florence-Firestone plays a role in the story. Shout out to Assemblymember Carrillo for authoring the legislation. Check out my reflections on AB 2533 as a former Zoning Enforcement Planner in Casita Coalition’s article authored by Board Chair Rafael Perez: https://www.casitacoalition.org/casita-coalition-blog/bringing-californias-hidden-housing-out-of-the-shadows-adu-amnesty-reform
From Casita Coalition social media:
Exciting News! Governor Newsom has signed Casita-sponsored AB 2533 into law! This bill is a game changer for legalizing unpermitted ADUs, making it easier, more affordable, and predictable for homeowners. Now, more homeowners can bring their units up to safety standards without breaking the bank, helping to preserve a critical segment of California’s naturally affordable rental housing market. This is a huge win for renters, homeowners, and housing stability in our communities! We thank Asm. Carrillo for championing this effort and everyone who supported this vital step toward advancing housing equity and preserving much-needed affordable homes. Our Board Chair, Rafael Perez, has authored a blog on AB 2355, titled “Bringing California’s Hidden Housing Out of the Shadows: ADU Amnesty Reform.” It features powerful insights from urban planner Jonathan Pacheco Bell @c1typlann3r and remarks from Assemblymember Juan Carrillo, highlighting the positive benefits this reform will unlock for communities.
I’m moderating the panel session “We’re In This Together: Improving Communities Through Planning and Code Enforcement Collaboration” at the 2024 APA CA Conference in Riverside. Our session is on September 28th, Conference Day 1, at 2:45pm. Come through.
Session description:
Planning and code enforcement are highly specialized and frequently politicized municipal services. At times this results in competing priorities and differing work styles, but fundamentally planners and code enforcement inspectors share the goal of creating community wellness. We best achieve this through intentional collaboration.
This session brings together planners and code enforcement professionals for a candid conversation about collaborative practice. Panelists will draw from personal reflections, scenarios, and case studies, and respond to interactive audience questions, to illustrate code enforcement and planning collaboration opportunities that benefit the community. By working collaboratively, planners and code enforcement avoid conflicting outcomes and reduce costs while co-creating better plans, policies, and programs and advancing fairness in land use regulation.
The moderator will facilitate a discussion exploring how effective communication, desire for mutual learning, and partnerships among planners, code enforcement regulators, and the community can increase equitable and inclusive planning, leading to more successful outcomes. Using interactive digital and in-person engagement methods, the audience will be empowered to guide the conversation in this forum. Attendees will gain insights and tools that they can apply in a variety of organizational settings to build collaborative opportunities for code enforcement and planning professionals.
I’m moderating the panel session “Land Use Hot Topics and Code Enforcement” at the 2024 APA CA Conference in Riverside. Our session is on September 28th, Conference Day 1, at 1:30pm. Come through.
Session description:
In an era of evolving regulations and shifting political landscapes, code enforcement officers and planners face unique challenges when addressing land use issues related to cannabis operations, massage parlors, and sidewalk vending. This session will explore the delicate balance between upholding local regulations and navigating the complex web of state rights and political sensitivities.
Our expert panel will share insights and strategies from jurisdictions across Southern California that have successfully tackled these challenging enforcement areas. Attendees will gain valuable knowledge on:
– Developing effective communication strategies to educate stakeholders on local regulations while respecting state rights.
– Collaborating with code enforcement and other agencies to address illegal operations and ensure public safety.
– Implementing innovative approaches to code enforcement that prioritize community engagement and voluntary compliance.
– Navigating political pressures and maintaining professionalism in sensitive enforcement situations.
Through interactive discussions and real-world case studies, participants will leave equipped with practical tools and best practices to manage politically sensitive land use issues in their own jurisdictions. This session aligns with the conference theme by emphasizing the importance of adaptability, collaboration, and innovation in the face of evolving challenges in code enforcement.
I’m doing an IG Live Sept 5th at 6pm Pacific with Elizabeth Gómez Ibarra and Ortopedia Urbana. We’ll discuss the social history, planning innovations, and future of the Florence-Firestone community in South Central LA. The conversation is a precursor to our inaugural Latin Labic placemaking event at the Florence-Firestone Community Organization on 9/14! Join the conversation.
Florence-Firestone Community Organization. Photo by Aditi Peyush
In Fall 2024, the Florence-Firestone Community Organization (FFCO) — where I proudly serve as VP — is partnering with Cal Poly Pomona and UCLA to integrate the neighborhood into these Urban Planning and Chicano Studies courses:
URP 5050: Planning and Place
URP 5120: Planning Ideas and Action
URP 5010: How Planning Works
CCAS M122: Planning Issues in Latino Communities (UCLA)
Building on our past efforts, FFCO will host neighborhood walking tours and discussions, conduct in-class guest lectures, and provide readings and resources (see below) to learn about the Florence-Firestone community in South Central LA.
Local news coverage of Florence-Firestone lamentably focuses on social ills. While the community endures challenges and struggle, there is more to it than the clickbait headlines. Our decades-long community-driven work proves it. The creation of Embedded Planning in Florence-Firestone (now a worldwide movement!) proves it. The birth of FFCO as a community advocacy voice during COVID proves it. Florence-Firestone is a vibrant and historic community. Students will experience it.
Below is a variety of key resources on Florence-Firestone. I am proud to have worked on most of these projects. These help reframe the narrative about our community. They tell a fuller story of partnerships, solidarity, and hope.
Note: This is a living document updated as needed throughout the semester/quarter. Any revision history will be indicated at the bottom of this page.
Florence-Firestone Community Organization and SELA Collaborative interview, including Embedded Planning origins in Florence-Firestone (starts at 5:25 min mark):
How a Tire Shop in South L.A. Became a Community Hub for Locals:
You must be logged in to post a comment.