The L.A. School and PoliticsNoir: Bringing the Local State Back In

:This essay critically reevaluates two key components of the L.A. School of Urbanism research program. First, we reconsider the L.A. School’s alternative to the concentric circles model of urban growth developed by the Chicago School. Second, we reexamine its account of Los Angeles’s modern development and transformation into a global city. We conclude that the L.A. School, much like the Chicago School it critiques, pays insufficient attention to politics and political institutions. Understanding how Los Angeles improbably grew from a frontier town to regional imperium and global city requires urban scholars to bring the local state back in. Based on recent scholarship, we argue that the local state played a critical and, frequently, autonomous role in key policy areas, such as city planning and water provision. By bringing the local state back into the L.A. growth story, L.A. scholars can offer a more robust theory of urban growth.