Should State Land in Southern California be Allocated to Warehousing Goods or Housing People? Analyzing Transportation, Climate, and the Unintended Consequences of Supply Chain Solutions

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed limitations in California's supply chain resiliency. In response, state land is proposed to help increase warehousing capacity. However, this solution brings a land-use paradox between economic and environmental goals. This project seeks to: identify the current and future supply and demand of warehousing in Southern California; evaluate how increasing warehousing affects overall emissions, local air quality, and other components in port-surrounding and warehousing adjacent neighborhoods and transportation routes in between; and offer suggestions for prioritizing state-owned property for warehousing goods versus housing people. The project team will identify and predict current and future gaps between supply and demand for warehousing using multiple regression models, explore land-use solutions to bridge the gap using geospatial information system and statewide property inventory, assess multiple scenarios of climate and environmental impacts using community-based air emission models, and propose strategies to prioritize state-owned property to address challenges in housing, warehousing, and the environment.