Constructing the coast: a study of access to the Los Angeles urban coast

This dissertation looks at how the Los Angeles coast and access to it is materially and discursively constructed. I do this through qualitative research on two beaches being contested by the public and private homeowners, and through participant observation with children from the inner-city of South Central participating in a surf camp. Through a critical cultural perspective of race and the landscape, I found that the Los Angeles coast is a highly racialized landscape that directly influences peoples ability to access it in material and symbolic ways. I found that the concept of access has been largely ignored by geographers, yet it has much to lend to cultural and landscape theory. I argue that access must be seen as a social relation imbued with power.