Smart Growth Network

Smart Growth Network
Name	Smart Growth Network
Formation	1996
Type	Non-profit coalition
Headquarters	United States
Region served	North America

Smart Growth Network

The Smart Growth Network is a United States–based coalition founded in 1996 that brought together public agencies, private firms, and nonprofit organizations to promote compact, transit-oriented, and environmentally sustainable community development. It served as a forum for policy exchange among agencies such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, private developers like The Related Companies, nonprofit groups including the Trust for Public Land, and professional associations such as the American Planning Association. The Network shaped urban planning debates by connecting practitioners from metropolitan regions such as New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon with federal programs and philanthropic funders like the Ford Foundation.

History

The Network emerged in the mid-1990s amid policy conversations involving the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Transportation (United States), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development that followed earlier initiatives like the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 and debates sparked by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Initial partners included organizations such as the Urban Land Institute, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the American Institute of Architects; major philanthropic supporters included the Rockefeller Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. Throughout the late 1990s and 2000s, the Network disseminated guidance informed by case studies from cities like Charlotte, North Carolina, Seattle, Washington, and Minneapolis, Minnesota and engaged with federal grant programs such as the Transportation and Community and System Preservation Pilot Program.

Mission and Principles

The Network articulated a mission to advance development patterns that reduce sprawl, preserve open space, and strengthen walkable communities by promoting compact urban form, mixed uses, and transportation choice. Its principles aligned with movements and documents associated with the New Urbanism movement, the Congress for the New Urbanism agenda, and planning frameworks used by the American Planning Association and the National Association of Realtors. Emphasis was placed on integrating land use and transportation decisions, conserving resources highlighted in reports by the United Nations Environment Programme, and leveraging market-based tools promoted by organizations like the Brookings Institution.

Programs and Initiatives

Key initiatives included development of evaluation tools, pilot demonstration projects, and guidance documents. The Network produced scorecards and performance measures inspired by methodologies from the Environmental Protection Agency and evaluation frameworks used by the Urban Institute and the RAND Corporation. Demonstration projects often partnered with municipal governments such as the City of Portland, Oregon and regional councils like the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (San Francisco Bay Area), and linked to federal initiatives like the Smart Growth Demonstration Program. The Network also organized conferences and workshops in collaboration with academic institutions including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of California, Berkeley.

Partnerships and Membership

Membership spanned federal agencies, state and local governments, private sector developers, and nonprofit advocates. Federal partners included the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation (United States), while municipal partners included planning bureaus from cities such as San Jose, California and Atlanta, Georgia. Nonprofit members included the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, and corporate members included firms in the real estate and engineering sectors like AECOM and Bechtel Corporation. The Network liaised with professional bodies such as the American Society of Civil Engineers and philanthropic funders including the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

Impact and Criticism

The Network influenced local ordinances, transit-oriented development projects, and federal grant criteria, contributing to policy shifts documented in studies by the Brookings Institution and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. It supported projects that increased housing density near transit nodes in regions like Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., and informed regional plans such as those produced by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. Critics from groups associated with the Cato Institute and certain homeowners associations argued that smart-growth policies could raise housing costs, limit property rights, or redirect infrastructure funding; housing advocates and affordable-housing organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Urban Institute have debated both the equity benefits and displacement risks associated with compact development.

Publications and Resources

The Network issued guidance documents, case study compendia, and evaluation frameworks that were widely cited by practitioners and academics. Notable materials paralleled reports published by the Environmental Protection Agency, policy briefs from the Brookings Institution, and white papers from the Urban Land Institute; they included toolkits for assessing development impacts, best-practice manuals used by the American Planning Association, and indicators aligned with metrics from the World Resources Institute. The Network’s body of work informed curricula at planning schools such as the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design and influenced resource collections at libraries like the Library of Congress.

Category:Urban planning organizations Category:Sustainable development organizations Category:Non-profit organizations based in the United States