How USC research sparked a new vision for keeping Los Angeles cool

On a blazing June afternoon, World Cup fans attending a city of Los Angeles “Kick It In the Park” watch party stepped beneath a temporary shade structure and experienced sweet relief from the scorching sun. Under the canopy, surface temperatures hovered around 74 degrees. But on the exposed basketball courts next to the shade structure, surface temperatures were as much as 51 degrees hotter.

That dramatic difference shows how extreme heat is reshaping our outdoor experiences — and that access to shade needs to be prioritized as a public health necessity, not simply a comfort.

That’s why ShadeLA — a coalition led by USC and UCLA to make L.A. more heat-resilient — is piloting a new concept: a mobile shade “lending library” that could allow L.A. public agencies and community organizations to quickly deploy temporary shade, including for the 2028 Olympics and Paralympic Games, future mega-events and wherever residents need it most.

And with the city of L.A. advancing its Climate Action Plan — actively making investments to help Angelenos stay cool as temperatures rise — ShadeLA’s lending library serves as a solution to help the city meet its resilience goals.

“We believe shade should be treated as essential public infrastructure,” said Michelle Barton, climate and sustainability director for the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences’ Public Exchange and co-director of ShadeLA. “By growing the ShadeLA lending library, we can make shade more accessible at community gatherings and places where permanent shade isn’t feasible, and help L.A. adapt to a hotter future.”

It started with data

The idea for the shade lending library grew out of research by Jay Campanell, an undergraduate researcher in Global Geodesign at USC Dornsife.

For Campanell, the work is also deeply personal.

“I’ve relied on L.A. public transit for the past three years,” he said. “I know exactly how exhausting it is to walk in the blazing sun and wait 15 minutes at a bus stop with no shade in sight. That’s why I’m so invested in this project. With the 2028 Olympics approaching, Los Angeles has an opportunity to show the world what a climate-ready city can look like — but we can only do that if our residents and visitors have safe, comfortable places to be outdoors.”

Campanell is working under the direction of Bistra Dilkina, associate professor of computer science at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens School of Computing and Artificial Intelligence and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, as well as the co-director of the USC Center for AI in Society.

Campanell developed a mapping tool in close collaboration with L.A. city and county partners that identified “double-impacted” communities — neighborhoods experiencing higher temperatures, limited tree canopy, greater health and economic challenges, and significant impacts from the 2026 FIFA World Cup, 2027 Super Bowl, and 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. By making these overlapping vulnerabilities visible, the map helped identify priority locations for targeted shade solutions.

“Extreme heat doesn’t impact Los Angeles equally,” Campanell said. “We see a clear pattern of spatial inequity where historically underinvested neighborhoods in East and South L.A., alongside inherently hotter areas like the San Fernando Valley, bear the highest burden. As 2028 approaches, key Olympic hubs like Exposition Park and Inglewood sit at the center of this heat disparity, requiring just as much attention as surrounding communities.”

Dilkina, an expert in machine learning and optimization who has applied these techniques to many spatial problems with a social and sustainability focus, is excited about the project outcomes. “Assessing carefully and mapping the potential impacts of heat allows us to also understand the potential impact of interventions such as adding shade,” she said. “The mapping tool is a key step in making more informed decisions and designing approaches that achieve multiple goals.”

From maps to action

Once ShadeLA identified where shade interventions would be needed most, the team began asking a different question: What if we could deploy shade relief now, as an interim solution?

Trees are a legacy solution that take decades to mature, and while built shade projects are essential, they require lengthy planning and construction. Temporary shade, on the other hand, can respond to extreme heat — immediately.

That idea evolved into the concept of a mobile shade lending library — a collection of portable shade structures that public agencies could borrow and deploy when needed. And support for the lending library is already gaining momentum through ShadeLA’s growing regional coalition.

“We are now working with organizations in our 30-plus-member ShadeLA coalition to refine how we scale the lending library model,” Barton said. “This will likely include a mosaic of municipalities and nonprofit partners that can support different library ‘branches’ to proactively support shading needs across our vast region.”

The World Cup opportunity

When ShadeLA learned the city of L.A. was planning free World Cup watch parties outside in the summer heat, the team recognized an opportunity to test mobile shade. The team activated its first prototype temporary shade installation in South L.A., one of its priority communities.

A foundational donation from Blue Shield of California meant that the pilot could include a reusable 1,500-square-foot shade structure that could cool several hundred attendees at a time, misters and an installation training for Recreation and Parks staff and Los Angeles Conservation Corps members. ShadeLA partner City Plants also provided 50 free trees for L.A. residents to adopt.

“As a nonprofit health plan, we know that good health is influenced by the environments where people live, work and gather,” said Caprice McIlvaine, vice president of communications and corporate citizenship at Blue Shield of California. “Access to shade can help protect people from the effects of extreme heat and make outdoor spaces safer and more welcoming for everyone. We’re proud to support ShadeLA’s innovative and important work to create healthier spaces for people to gather, connect and enjoy the outdoors.”

To understand the cooling effects of the shade structure, the ShadeLA team collected surface temperature, ambient temperature and thermal imaging data. Every hour throughout the sunny afternoon, the team measured the temperature differences inside and outside of the shade structure. At 3 p.m., the surface temperature was 51 degrees cooler in the shade, compared to on the blacktop next to the structure. Even on the same surface — the lawn where the tent stood — temperatures were as much as 44 degrees cooler under the tent than in direct sunlight.

That dramatic contrast demonstrated how thoughtfully designed temporary shade can transform outdoor environments almost instantly and how reducing exposure, even over relatively small areas, could have significant public health implications.

“Our pilot activation was an incredible proof of concept,” Barton said. “It not only demonstrated the effectiveness of this approach, but it showed the community demand for this kind of solution. Now, we are eager to refine the model and scale it into a lasting community resource to create safer places for people to gather, play and exercise before — and long after — the 2028 games.”