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Smart Growth in Maryland |
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In 1997, then Governor Parris N. Glendening and the State of
Maryland launched the Smart Growth and Neighborhood
Conservation initiative, an effort to use state funds as
incentives to direct growth. The program was built on the
foundation of nearly a half century of progressive land use
measures in Maryland, including the 1992 Economic Growth,
Resource Protection and Planning Act.
This initiative gained considerable national attention. In
2000, the Maryland Smart Growth initiative was proclaimed
one of the 10 most innovative new government programs in the
nation in the annual Innovations in American Government
awards program co-sponsored by Harvard University's John F.
Kennedy School of Government, the Ford Foundation and the
Council for Excellence in Government.
The goals of the program are to enhance the state's existing
communities and other locally-designated growth areas;
identify and protect the state's most valuable farmland and
other natural resources; and save taxpayers from the cost of
building new infrastructure to support poorly planned
development.
The National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education
was established as direct result of the national interest in
the effectiveness of Smart Growth policies put in place in
Maryland and in other states. Dr. Gerrit Knaap, Executive
Director of the National Center for Smart Growth, is an ex
officio member of the Governor's Smart Growth Sub-Cabinet.
The National Center for Smart Growth also works
collaboratively with the Maryland Department of Planning and
other state and local government agencies on land use
issues. For example, the National Center for Smart Growth is
currently under contract with the Maryland State Highway
Administration to develop a statewide transportation model
for Maryland.
A long-term goal of the National Center for Smart Growth is
to provide analysis and measurements of the effectiveness of
the Maryland Smart Growth effort as a constructive way of
assisting the state to improve the program over time.
To find out more about the State of Maryland's Smart Growth
initiative, visit the Maryland Department of Planning
website at:
http://www.mdp.state.md.us/smartintro.htm
Smart Growth @ 10
In 2007, the
National Center for Smart Growth and Resources for the
Future, a non-profit environmental research organization,
co-sponsored a major conference commemorating the 10-year
anniversary of the Maryland Smart Growth initiative. More
than two-dozen research papers and case studies were
commissioned for this conference and may be found at:
http://www.rff.org/rff/Events/SmartGrowthat10.cfm
For more information about the conference, go to:
http://www.smartgrowth.umd.edu/smartgrowthat10/smartgrowthat10.htm
