Gus Wendel

Gus Wendel is the 2025–2027 Fishman Fellow at Taubman. His research explores urban planning’s role in the formation of sexual space, the intersectional use and design of public space, and alternative spatial research methods grounded in the urban humanities. His peer-reviewed work has been published in Planning Theory and Practice, The Journal of Planning Literature, The Journal of Urban Affairs, The Journal of Public Space, and Technology | Architecture + Design. His dissertation investigates how municipal incorporation and redevelopment helped establish West Hollywood, California as the “first gay city,” and its broader implications for diverse gender and sexual minorities. He previously served as Associate Director of the UCLA Urban Humanities Initiative, an interdisciplinary teaching and research program within cityLAB-UCLA that brings together the interpretive, historical approaches of the humanities with the material, projective practices of design to address pressing urban and environmental issues. He is also a founding member of the Urban Humanities Network, the Digital Salon, and the (Un)Common Public Space Group. Gus earned a doctorate and masters in urban and regional planning from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and a bachelors in international relations and italian studies from Brown University.