When the 2028 Olympics arrive in Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley will host events for the first time–offering the world a new stage and residents the same scorching reality.

Much of the Valley lacks tree cover and is vulnerable to rising heat, with residents often waiting for buses in full sun or walking along shadeless sidewalks. Like other parts of the city, it’s also losing green space to frequent construction projects.

A new initiative, ShadeLA, launched by researchers from the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles, aims to change that. The program brings together city, county, Metro and Olympics officials in an effort to expand the tree canopy and other forms of shade where it’s needed the most—especially in heat-vulnerable neighborhoods and public spaces like sidewalks, schoolyards and transit corridors.

It is framed as a long-term investment in climate resilience, one that is timed to high-profile global events like the 2028 Olympics and the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but designed to leave a legacy long after they’re over.

But the barriers are steep–and familiar. L.A. has no formal urban forestry plan. Tree planting is governed by strict spacing rules and fragmented oversight across city agencies. And while advocates welcome the attention ShadeLA brings, they caution that lasting change will require more than vision, it will require commitment.

ShadeLA, launched on July 16, is not a centrally funded program but a coalition. It’s led by researchers at USC’s Dornsife Public Exchange and UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, with participation from the City and County of Los Angeles, LA Metro and the LA28 Olympics organizing committee.

The initiative also partners with a growing list of community-based organizations already working on shade projects across the region. Each entity is expected to fund and implement its own work, but the goal is to share data, avoid duplication and stretch limited resources, said Monica Dean, climate and sustainability practice director at USC Dornsife Public Exchange.

“ What we’re trying to do is focus on quality, not quantity,” Dean said. “ And what that means from our perspective is making sure the right type of shade is showing up in the place that it’s needed.”

In some locations, that means planting trees, Dean said. In others, where narrow sidewalks or dense infrastructure make that difficult, it could mean adding awnings, canopies or shade sails. “ It’s about using the right tool in the toolbox to add shade in that space,” she added.

The program’s focus is fourfold: to expand shade in high-need public spaces, support long-term maintenance of both trees and structures, use data to target the most heat-exposed areas, and help residents and agencies act more easily by providing tools and technical guidance.

Researchers say they’ll spend the next three years identifying priority sites, with a focus on hotter neighborhoods like Pacoima and Sun Valley in the San Fernando Valley, as well as South LA and East LA.

The goal is to deliver some shade improvements before the Games begin—and keep building after they end.

Heat, Dean said, is often underestimated as a public health threat. While wildfires get more attention for their visible destruction, heatwaves are deadlier.

“ It’s sort of this silent, invisible threat,” she said. “One of our goals through ShadeLA is to help really bring shade planning to the forefront of how we think about infrastructure in Los Angeles. How can we make shade as common as a streetlight or as a fire hydrant? How do we make it available everywhere it’s needed to keep people safe?”

Making shade “as common as a streetlight,” however, may be easier said than done.

On the ground in the San Fernando Valley, where Olympic events will be held for the first time, some residents and advocates are skeptical—not of the vision, but of whether the city can overcome long-standing challenges that have undermined past efforts.

“ The idea of trying to plant anything now in time for the ’28 Olympics, it’s just too late,” said Joanne D’Antonio, chair of the Community Forest Advisory Committee, or CFAC, volunteers who advise the City Council on tree-related policies. “I mean, trees here just aren’t going to shoot up into shade that quickly,” she said.

It typically takes at least a decade or more for trees in Southern California to grow large enough to cool a sidewalk or shelter a bus stop, she said. In the meantime, the existing canopy is still being lost—to development, infrastructure upgrades and sidewalk repair.

“ It’s a good thing to do, to plant trees, and it’s certainly an even better thing to do right now — is to preserve trees,” she said. “And we’re still cutting down trees.”

One example, D’Antonio said, is Metro’s East San Fernando Valley Light Rail project, which is expected to remove 500 to 600 street and median trees along a 6.7-mile stretch of Van Nuys Boulevard–a corridor identified as a tree equity area for its limited shade and high heat exposure. Advocates said replanting won’t happen until the 2030s.

And it’s not just Metro. Across Los Angeles, mature trees are routinely lost to development and street upgrades—often without plans for immediate replacement.

“ The city prioritizes development over tree preservation,” she said. “And the majority of our trees get removed to build apartment buildings and other construction.”

In parts of the Valley like Tarzana and Valley Glen, she added, longtime trees are vanishing as older homes are torn down and replaced with larger, higher-value developments.

That loss is happening across income levels, she said—not just in neighborhoods typically flagged for low canopy coverage.

“ There’s parts of Van Nuys that are tree poor, but the whole Valley is sweltering,” D’Antonio said.

Even when there’s space to add trees, city regulations often stand in the way. L.A.’s spacing guidelines require significant clearance between trees and infrastructure like bus shelters, streetlights, driveways and alley entrances—rules that are stricter than those in many other cities, researchers found.

For example, the City of L.A. recommends 10 feet between a tree and a transit shelter.

“ We have rules that say you can’t plant a tree near a bus stop, a bus shelter,” D’Antonio said. “ We need to change those guidelines, so this project is more successful.”

The distance required between street trees is also unusually large: 25 to 40 feet for small, medium, and large trees—compared to a national minimum of 15 to 20 feet. According to a recent study by USC Dornsife researchers, these are internal guidelines, not city law, and they could be updated.

The study—conducted by researchers from the same institute now helping lead the ShadeLA initiative—found that the existing rules limit canopy growth, exacerbate shade inequities, and don’t clearly improve public safety.

Those concerns are echoed by others in L.A.’s urban forestry world—though some see opportunity, too.

“ Shade is an important, necessary health issue,” said Aaron Thomas, urban forestry director at North East Trees, a nonprofit that aims to increase the tree canopy and green spaces in underinvested communities.

He noted that Los Angeles’ long, dry summers—now intensified by climate change—can be especially dangerous for working-class and low-income residents, many of whom lack access to air conditioning. Without adequate shade over sidewalks, buildings, and public spaces, he said, the risk of heat-related illness and even death rises sharply.

While he hopes the Olympics will bring attention and resources to shade equity, he cautions that the city’s track record on follow-through is mixed.

“ I’m realistic,” he said. “I know that the city continues to struggle when it comes to funding urban forestry and tree care and management. That has not changed, and it may be getting worse now.” When budgets get tight, he added, departments like Recreation and Parks which manage much of L.A.’s tree canopy, are often the first to face cuts.

Thomas said initiatives like ShadeLA can make a difference—but only if they’re rooted in long-term planning and local needs.

“ It’s for the residents who currently live here now and meeting their needs,” he said. “Otherwise it just comes across as window dressing … something that looks nice for the event, but then it’s not really functioning, or sustainable over the long term because it’s not being done for the community, it’s being done for visitors.”

Despite those concerns, city and regional officials frame ShadeLA as a meaningful step toward long-term climate resilience.

Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement, “Extreme heat continues to impact the lives of the people of Los Angeles, and this partnership empowers our communities to come together, build resilience and cool our neighborhoods. … As we prepare to welcome the world, this initiative will leave a lasting legacy for Angelenos for years to come.”

Metro said it’s working with local partners to focus on shade improvements in underserved areas—and highlighted plans to install nearly 400 new bus shelters at bus stops without shelter across the San Fernando Valley, including major upgrades at five key transfer points. The first 100 are expected in early 2025.

The agency said it has also launched a dedicated “Games workstream” focused on heat, after reviewing how Paris handled similar preparations.

“Equity remains central to Metro’s mission, ensuring that every community can thrive in the face of a changing climate,” the agency said in a statement Friday.

To longtime tree advocates, those statements sound all too familiar.

“This group has great intentions. I wish them the best, but they will run into obstacles,” D’Antonio said. “I don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but it’s very problematic here.”