Public space remains central to urban life, but it is increasingly constrained and contested. Based at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), the (Un)Common Public Space Group is a graduate collective that advances public space discourse and community impact, employing unconventional practices and methodologies.

We are interested in “uncommon” public space issues, activities and user groups that are marginalized and neglected by mainstream planning and design scholarship and practice. We are equally invested in collective processes that foster community building and sharing as “commons.”

Our commitment to research justice and equity situates our work about public space in public space, alongside users and local communities. We are interested in bringing scholarly questions outside the confines of academia and into environments of everyday life as conversations, interventions, and events.