Smart Growth and Colleges and Universities
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Background
Colleges and universities influence the built environment in many ways:
- As developers, institutions affect land use both on and off campus.
- As teachers and researchers, colleges and universities are educating citizens who will be involved in determining development patterns, professionally or as community members, and are producing pure and applied research on the built environment.
- As part of the community, most institutions provide technical assistance to communities, community groups, and decision-makers.
EPA works with institutions of higher learning on smart growth development approaches and sees these institutions as resources on the built environment.
The Institution as Developer
Colleges and universities are economic engines, and their impact extends beyond traditional campus boundaries. As institutions serving students, faculty, and staff, they need to maintain and expand their facilities. They are typically responsible for providing classrooms, offices, research space, laboratories, administrative offices, and housing, as well as transportation facilities that include parking lots, buses, bike racks, and bikes. Their expansion affects surrounding neighborhoods and often the larger region.
This section lists some resources about the university as developer and its influence on local economies.
Resources
Collaborating on Greensboro's Future: The University Roundtable and Next Steps (2008): Report, produced through EPA's Smart Growth Implementation Assistance Program, that discusses the development challenges facing Greensboro, North Carolina, and its vision for future growth. The report outlines strategic directions the city and its colleges and universities could pursue by working collaboratively.
Spokane's University District: Policy Options for a New Urban Center (2007): Report from a Smart Growth Implementation Assistance project with Spokane, Washington, to address growth and development-related challenges on and near university campuses.
Communities of Opportunity: Smart Growth Strategies for Colleges and Universities Exit(48 pp, 39 M, About PDF), National Association of College and University Business Officers and Ayers Saint Gross Architects, (2007): Discusses using limited resources more effectively, getting the most out of investments, improving relations between the campus and the community, and demonstrating that institutions are and can be good environmental stewards. Includes contributions from EPA staff.
The City, Land and the University: Exit Lincoln Institute of Land Policy program that focuses on the efforts of colleges and universities to develop both on and off campus.
Leveraging Colleges and Universities for Urban Economic Revitalization: An Action Agenda Exit CEOs for Cities Conversations and the Institute for a Competitive Inner City (2002): Discusses the importance of colleges and universities in urban redevelopment and revitalization. It describes how community leaders, elected officials, and college and university administrators have worked together to achieve common goals.
Teaching and Research
Through their teaching, research, and service missions, colleges and universities teach best practices, provide professional training, and analyze land use policies and practice. Much of this educational effort comes from traditional courses in programs dealing with the built environment, including planning, architecture, policy, law, engineering, and public health. However, colleges and universities also host and provide land use practice training to local officials such as municipal legislators, planning commissioners, and staff.
Resources
Partnerships for Smart Growth: University-Community Collaboration for Better Public Spaces, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and Lincoln Institute for Land Policy (2005): Profiles 13 university-led collaborations on smart growth initiatives. Written under a cooperative agreement with EPA.
Teaching smart growth at colleges and universities: Model course prospectuses: Lists course descriptions and syllabi from faculty members from several universities describing the integration of smart growth approaches to development into courses.
Federal Highway Administration Course on Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation (2006): Covers planning and engineering issues, design and engineering techniques, and implementation.
University Real Estate Development: Campus Expansion in Urban Settings, Exit University of Baltimore with research assistance from the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy (2007): Working paper that explores how institutions of higher education expand outside their campus boundaries.
Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS): Transparent, self-reporting framework created by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance.
Service and Technical Assistance
Many colleges and universities provide technical assistance and services to local governments, nonprofits, and other organizations interested in better growth and development outcomes. Some assistance involves training elected officials, staff, and community groups. Other projects include applied research and direct technical assistance through contracts or class projects or a combination of both.
Research and Service Centers
The following links exit the site Exit
- University of Georgia
UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government
Alliance for Quality Growth
Conducts applied research and provides assistance on policy tools and best practices for better land development approaches.
- University of Maryland
National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education
Works in four subject areas: land use and environmental policy, housing and community development, transportation and human health, and international urban development.
Smart Growth University Training
These courses are intended for elected officials, professional staff, developers, and citizens.
- Georgia Institute of Technology
College of Architecture
Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development
Community Partnerships: University Service and Applied Research Programs
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Cornell University
Department of Natural Resources
Community and Rural Development Institute
Studies land use, main street revitalization, local government, and economic development. - Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis
Public Policy Institute
Focuses on urban policy, intergovernmental cooperation, community and economic development, housing, environmental, and fiscal affairs research.
- Ohio State University
Campus Partners for Urban Redevelopment
Promotes improvement to the neighborhoods around Ohio State, including creating revitalization plans for these neighborhoods.
- Rutgers University
National Center for Neighborhood and Brownfields Redevelopment
Focuses on service, education, and research to promote neighborhood and brownfields redevelopment.
- University of Cincinnati
UC/Community Interactions and Collaborations: A Study of Peer Institutions (235 pp, 6.5 M, About PDF)Assesses the state of university-community partnerships across North America and includes case studies.
- University of Florida
Conservation Clinic
Hosts an interdisciplinary effort in the law school focusing on applied education and addressing needs for conservation.
- University of Hawaii
Collaborative projects between Sea Grant Program and School of Architecture
Promotes sustainable development and community planning.
- University of Massachusetts at Amherst
Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning Department
Hosts several initiatives, including the Citizen Planner Training Collaborative and the Community Preservation Institute.
- University of Oregon
Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management and the School of Architecture and Allied Arts
Community Planning Workshop
Works with clients throughout the state to address current planning and policy topics.
- University of Wisconsin
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
The Wisconsin Idea: University of Wisconsin Extension Programs
Conducts community outreach and workshops.
- University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Center for Architecture and Urban Planning Research
Metro Milwaukee Initiative
Conducts research on smart growth.
- West Virginia University
Center for Agriculture, Natural Resources and Community Development
Community Design Team
Works with communities; limited smart growth application, but very applied learning, especially in rural settings.