ABSTRACT
Los Angeles is the second largest urban system in the USA, and amongst the world’s largest city regions (Nelson, 1983; Steiner, 1981). In the mid-1980s it has a population of 11 million and still shows signs of continued growth. From the time of the gold rush in the mid-nineteenth century until the late 1960s, southern California was viewed by many as the ‘promised land’, because of its mild winters, fertile soils, sunshine, and outdoor lifestyle (Baur, 1959). Today that image has been tarnished and replaced by one which sees pollution, over-crowding and crime as the main attributes.
