Research
National Center for Smart Growth Research & 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 in Maryland, in metropolitan regions around the nation, and in Asia and Europe. Located at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD, just eight miles from Washington, D.C., the National Center for Smart Growth was founded in 2000 as a cooperative venture of four University of Maryland schools: Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Public Policy, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and Engineering.
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 related to land use and the environment, transportation and public health, housing and community development, and international urban development. The Center accomplishes this through independent, objective, interdisciplinary research, outreach and education. It is aided in these efforts with the work of its five affiliated centers: the Environmental Finance Center, the Center for the Use of Sustainable Practices, the Transportation Policy Research Group, the Housing Strategies Group, and the Planning & Design Center.
Housing Policy, Design and Development
The specialty in housing policy, design, and development includes studies of U.S., State or Local Housing Policy, the demand for mixed use and specialized housing (i.e. live/work creative communities, integrated urban agriculture, and aging populations), the integration of housing with land use and transportation policy, the provision of fair and equitable housing, the finance and demand for energy efficient buildings, the role of the financial crises and financial booms on the housing market, and comparative housing policies abroad, such as Korea and China are subjects that have been explored and studied. Students and faculty in this specialization come from the fields of real estate, urban planning, architecture, economics, and sociology.