US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “During my years caring for patients, the most common pathology I saw was not heart disease or diabetes; it was loneliness.” This “epidemic,” he said, is “associated with a reduction in lifespan similar to that caused by smoking 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity.” Too many residents of greater Los Angeles, with its history of sprawl and segregation, suffer from this very epidemic.

WUF will be considering how the built environment influences opportunities for social interaction, and in what ways this affects health and defines community. How does urban or architectural design either remediate or proliferate social isolation? How can cities create spaces that are inclusive and designed to promote social cohesion? What examples of this are we seeing in Westside communities? And whose job is it to consider such solutions - the private or the public sector?

The impact of loneliness does not show signs of waning, as studies indicate millennials have become the loneliest generation and the percentage of adults who experience loneliness has doubled since the 1980s. As cities are promoting physical and mental health by improving access to parks, bike lanes, and public art, let’s explore whether and how Los Angeles can develop both programs and physical spaces--public, private, and in between--that improve social health and foster person-to-person interactions.

Panelists
Frances Anderton, Host/Producer, Design and Architecture
Caroline Cicero, PhD, MSW, MPL, Instructional Associate Professor of Gerontology Director, USC Age Friendly University Initiative
Julie Rusk, Chief Civic Wellbeing Officer, City of Santa Monica
Blaine Merker, Partner and Managing Director, Gehl

Moderator
Rabbi Lori Schneide Shapiro, Founding Rabbi/Artistic Director, The Open Temple, Venice, CA

Helms Design Center @ the Helms Bakery campus
8745 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA  90232
Google map and directions

Parking
Available in the adjacent, interior parking garage at 8711 Washington Blvd., Culver City (look for the red banners), or ample street parking, or via the Expo Light Rail line, one block to the east of Helms Bakery.

7:15am-9am

7:15am  Registration
7:30am  Breakfast
7:45am  Panel Discussion

$50  members
$65  nonmembers
$10  student members
$15  student nonmembers

A limited number of discounted tickets are available for members of neighborhood councils and other community-based organizations. Please inquire at [email protected].

Pre-registration closes on Wednesday, March 18th. After March 18th and at onsite registration the cost will be an additional $10. No refunds or credits will be provided after this date.