The National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education

The National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education is a non-partisan center for research and leadership training on Smart Growth and related land use issues nationally and internationally. Faculty in the Urban Studies and Planning Program drafted the initial proposal to create the Center, and several of its faculty members have affiliated with it. Founded in 2000, the Center is a cooperative venture of four University of Maryland schools: Architecture, Engineering, Public Policy, and Agricultural and Natural Resources. The mission of the Center is to bring the diverse resources of the University of Maryland and a network of national experts to bear on issues in land development, resource preservation and urban growth -- the nature of our communities, our landscape and our quality of life -- through interdisciplinary research, outreach and education, thereby establishing the University as the national leader in this field.

The National Center for Smart Growth conducts independent, objective research in four general areas: land use and the environment; transportation and public health; housing and community development; and international development issues. It also offers Smart Growth Leadership Program to federal, state and local governments and private sector decision-makers as well as a variety of other training and outreach activities.