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| January 22, 1929 This is one of the earliest available photographs of the UCLA campus from the Spence Aerial Photograph collection at UCLA. It is apparent that the predominant landscape in the area is agriculture, with only slight hints of the residential developments that now cover the region. At this time, UCLA consists only of the four main buildings on campus; Haines, Humanities, Powell, and Royce. |
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| January 23, 1936 Less than ten years later, Los Angeles has developed exponentially. Small neighborhoods have now sprouted up on both sides of Wilshire Boulevard. The campus of UCLA has grown as well. The Kauffman Building and the Student Activites Center have both been constructed, and Moore appears to be in place. There is little in the way of developed roads on campus, although many dirt roads leading to the main campus have been constructed. None of the western side of campus including the residential hill has yet been developed. This photograph was also obtained from the Spence Aerial Photography Collection. |
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| December 10, 1945 By 1945, the UCLA campus and Westwood community are now beginning to resemble the area today. Residential areas are now predominant and roads now cover the landscape. The most greenery in the region is now present on the UCLA campus. The creek leading through the east side of campus near present-day Bunche Hall is heavily wooded. Trees line Westwood Boulevard, which runs through the entirety of campus. Trees also cover the future location of the CHS building and the Ronald Reagan Hospital. On the South-West corner of campus, one singular block of small-scale agricultural production remains. |
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| December 2, 1959 The most dramatic transformation of the UCLA campus takes place primarily between 1945 and 1959. In these years, the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden is constructed adds tremendously to the greenery on the South-East side of campus. Nearly all buildings that are present on campus today have now been constructed. The ravine located to the east of the main campus has been filled in and replaced with Perloff and Schoenberg Hall, Murphy and Dodd. CHS is now one of the most dominating features of the landscape, replacing the previously open space of the southern part of campus with the sprawling hospital. Construction has been initiated on the western side of campus, with Dykstra and Hedrick Hall standing on the otherwise barren residential hill. |
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| March 7, 1961 By the 1960's, Westwood has been almost completely developed. The landscape is now entirely residential, with the most dominating sources of greenery being provided by the growing residential canopy of trees lining streets and gardens growing in, the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, the remaining empty space between the main campus and the residential hill, and finally the last remaining and quickly dwindling agricultural plot on the southwestern corner of campus. |
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| January 22, 1964 The most notable addition from 1961 to 1964 is Bunche Hall, completing the transformation of north campus. Now that campus has been almost completely developed, trees are beginning to be planted along busy roads and near the borders of buildings. Dodson Court appears to be in the process of being landscaped and a few large trees can be spotted lining the main entry roads to central campus. More significant construction has transformed the residential hill to a more recognizable state. Southern campus has now become much more built up, eliminating almost all natural landscape. |
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September 23, 1968 From 1964 through 1968, construction on Drake stadium is the most notable change. The residential hill has been built up significantly. Sage Hill is viewable for the first time in the historical images, shadowing the now prevalent Hedrick Hall. |
1979
These satellite images, obtained from the Landsat Satellite's MSS sensor, give a rough illustration of the land use of the campus as well as the surrounding region in 1979. The resolution of the image is 79x79m, limiting the ability to examine specific features on the UCLA campus in the visible.
1989
While satellite technology had improved by 1989, increasing resolution to 30m x 30m, the key advancement in the ability the analyze a small study area such as UCLA is the availability of aerial images on Google Earth. The Google Earth image clearly depicts the now completed Drake Stadium. The progress made on the residential hill is now visible. Also the addition of Veteran Avenue as the western border of campus is notable in this image, whereas in the previous depictions the western border remained undefined.
1994/1996
These images depict the layout of the UCLA campus in 1994, and both the top and bottom image were obtained from Maryland Land Cover Facility. The middle image, collected from the Google Earth database, provides a more close up view from 1996. Little changed throughout the campus during these years, making the images comparable. Development of the surrounding area is thorough, with little to no remaining free space. The campus still appears similar to the 1989 images, showing little drastic changes.
2000/2002
Both the top and bottom image were obtained from Maryland Land Cover Facility and depict the UCLA campus in 2000. The middle image, collected from the Google Earth database, provides a more high resolution view from 2002. The most notable change from the 1995 image is the development of real estate around UCLA. The entirety of UCLA has now been developed, leaving little or no space for continued construction. The main point of development since the 1995 imagery is the addition of the De Neve dormitories.
2004/2005
Both the top and bottom image were obtained from Maryland Land Cover Facility and depict the UCLA campus in 2005. The middle image was retrieved from the Google Earth database, providing a view of the campus from 2004. Based on the visible imagery, little changes are notable between the 2000 and 2005 images. The construction that took place during these years was not drastic enough to be quantified by satellite imagery.
