Kyla Marie Corpuz

Kyla Marie Corpuz is a Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at UCLA, with a concentration in design and development. She is committed to leveraging her design skills and planning knowledge to bolster the political agency of underrepresented communities when planning for their future. Her primary interests lie at the intersection of affordable housing, community resilience and just urban design.

She currently works as an intern for the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Housing Division, where she is contributing to research to support the Lasting Affordability Program. She earned her bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego, where she studied urban planning and public policy.

Project Overview

My research project explores community land trusts as an innovative model for creating permanently affordable housing, ensuring neighborhood stabilization and reducing displacement pressures in disadvantaged communities. Community land trusts are nonprofit, community-based organizations that acquire, hold, and steward land in perpetuity to preserve its long-term availability for affordable housing. By separating ownership of land from ownership of buildings on that land, community land trusts promise more equitable housing opportunities for those marginalized by traditional housing markets.

I aim to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape of community land trusts in Southern California by using a mixed-methods approach: examining case studies of existing community land trusts in the region, interviewing key stakeholders involved in these organizations, and analyzing financial partnerships and demographic data.

Why is this topic, specifically, important to you?

My interest in community land trusts stems from a deep commitment to understanding how alternative models of land ownership can help address Southern California’s intertwined crises of housing affordability, economic inequality and displacement. I am particularly interested in exploring how this shared-equity ownership model promotes community control and democratic governance, giving residents a meaningful voice in shaping land use decisions and influencing the future of their respective neighborhoods. I believe that everyone deserves stable housing as a foundation for pursuing upward economic mobility and wealth-building opportunities, and I strive to inspire and empower underserved community members to advocate greater housing justice.

Who are the partners involved in this project and how will you be working with them?

My client, SCAG, is supervising the project, and providing guidance on policy analysis and connecting me with key stakeholders involved with community land trusts.

How do you hope that this project will impact the field moving forward?

Ultimately, I hope my research will advance understanding of how community land trusts can support sustainable affordable housing development in Southern California. Through my capstone project, I also aim to provide guidance on facilitating municipal partnerships with community land trust organizations at different levels of government, and determine how coordination with government agencies can support the formation and expansion of community land trusts throughout the region.