News

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

The University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth announced today a new, on-going partnership with the City of College Park that will leverage University assets to tackle city challenges in sustainability. The Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability, or “PALS” program, will match coursework across a variety of disciplines with issues pertaining to the economic, environmental and social well-being of College Park. Although unofficially launched in January, the Memo of Understanding was approved Tuesday night at a meeting of the College Park City Council.

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

TERPS make “the final four” at the 2015 ULI-Gerald Hines Student Urban Design CompetitionA team of graduate students from UMD’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation has landed one of four finalist slots in the thirteenth annual Urban Land Institute/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, beating out over 120 teams from 60 of the finest and most prestigious graduate-level programs in the United States and Canada.

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

A series of maps that illustrate gaps in opportunity, developed by the University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth (NCSG), was the basis for Baltimore’s first-ever comprehensive regional plan to create strong, sustainable communities and break the continuous cycle of poverty for many inner-city families.

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

Last month, D.C. residents elected MAPP’s own Elissa Silverman, a graduate student in the Urban Studies and Planning Program, to the At-Large Seat of the Washington, D.C. City Council. After narrowly losing a seat in her first council campaign in 2013, Elissa won her second election handily, capturing 12% of the vote in an unusually large pool of 15 candidates. Once more, she did so without any corporate campaign contributions, a feat not often seen in a city like Washington.

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

Students employ LiDAR technology to offer new insights in historic restoration in VirginiaFairfax County’s Ash Grove Plantation has seen its fair share of history. Built by the county’s namesake, Brian Fairfax, in 1790, the Plantation was at different times a family home, a boarding school for young women and a refuge in the American Civil War.

Thu, 05/23/2019 - 12:00

Before MAPP alum Abraham (Abe) Murrell (B.S. Architecture ’13) starts his master’s degree in architecture this fall, he has a small to-do list. It’s an ambitious list to squeeze into six months: Abe wants to travel, volunteer and also get some hands-on experience in construction. Even more ambitious, is how he plans to do it: On May 22, 2015, Abe will set out with 31 other volunteers on a cross-country, 4,200-mile fund-raising bike trip to benefit affordable housing efforts. The program, called Bike and Build, will take the team from Charleston, South Carolina, to Santa Cruz, California.