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Game Plan

Our turf

Mapping the Movement

The L.A. region is huge. And resources are limited. So where do we start?

We created a game plan to prioritize the places where need and mega sporting events come together

The map below identifies “double-impacted” areas — communities that face higher temperatures, less tree cover, greater health and economic challenges, and are significantly impacted by the 2026 FIFA World Cup™, 2027 Super Bowl, and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in blue.

The map shows ShadeLA’s three pilot sites, South L.A., East L.A., and Inglewood, in red. We are focusing our initial shade interventions and investments in these communities, which have the power to cool and shade over 400,000 residents.

Future iterations of this map will include additional data and deeper community-level insights to further refine priorities.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • ShadeLA is a coalition of partners working to coordinate, align, and accelerate shade investments across the region. This map serves as a guide to focus those efforts, attract additional resources, and direct investments between 2026 and 2028 where they’ll be most needed.

    This map can also serve as a guide for other groups interested in shade investment to target projects in these areas. Our goal is to scale high-impact shade solutions in neighborhoods with the greatest need and demonstrated community interest.

  • An analysis conducted by ShadeLA partners prioritized “double-impacted” neighborhoods. These are communities that: 

    1.  Face a high need for shade due to factors like high population density, exposure to extreme heat, high air pollution, and low existing shade cover, and
    2.  Are expected to experience a significant impact from the series of mega sporting events coming to our region because of their proximity to venues or major transit hubs.

    Of these, ShadeLA has identified three pilot sites, South L.A., East L.A., and Inglewood in which to focus initial investments.

  • Many communities throughout L.A. want–and deserve–greater protection from extreme heat. The absence of some communities from this map does not mean they lack need.

    Comprehensive L.A. County plans and L.A. City assessments, such as the Community Forest Management Plan, County Heat Action Plan, and City Climate Vulnerability Assessment, outline long-term strategies to expand tree canopy and built shade cover across many L.A. neighborhoods. 

    This analysis, on the other hand, was designed to identify the highest-need neighborhoods based on a specific set of criteria, including: population density, extreme heat exposure, high air pollution, low existing shade cover, among others, and significant anticipated impact from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl, and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The map represents a targeted prioritization approach, not a comprehensive list of all communities that would benefit from additional shade. 

  • Yes. The map will be refined and updated over time. ShadeLA institutional partners developed this initial analysis using currently available data provided by the City and County of Los Angeles. Future versions of this map will incorporate additional data from the Cities of Inglewood, Compton, and Long Beach, and we will refine our analysis as we access new sources of data.

  • Yes! Our interactive Public Planning Map lets planners, researchers, community organizations, and decision makers explore data sets on shade cover, heat vulnerability, mobility, and megaevent venues. Bookmark the map and check back for new layers.