Metropolitan centers can only remain viable places to live and work with deliberate, yet flexible planning that taps a number of disciplines.  At the center of such planning are lawyers, who help craft workable laws and regulations, as well as land-use planners, economic planners, business leaders, engineers, and regulatory agencies. 

The Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth (Metro Growth Center) advances interdisciplinary dialogue and research on urban growth and management issues.  The Center achieves its mission by sponsoring the Urban Fellows Program, the summer legal and policy study, foreign enrichment courses, and study space.  Additionally, the Center organizes and sponsors symposia and speakers on urban and growth management issues.

The Metro Growth Center takes advantage of the fact that Georgia State University is located in Atlanta, one of the nation’s fastest growing cities.  This prime location offers students an opportunity to explore the myriad of issues affecting urban areas, and experience firsthand the legislative and judicial actions affecting planning and growth management.  Students involved in the Metro Growth Center's programs are ready to serve as leaders in the law and regulation of the built and physical environment.

 

NEWS

Interview with our Foreign Exchange Student, Leandro Duarte Alves
Over the 2011-2012 academic year, the Metro Growth Center hosted a foreign exchange student from Rio de Janeiro State University in Brazil (UERJ).  Leandro Alves came to the United States seeking to improve his English and learn about the American legal system in preparation for a career in oil and gas law in Brazil.  His journey took him to several great American cities, enabled him to become a student member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN), and gave him life long friends in the College of Law.  Click here to read about what he calls "the greatest experience of his life."

Metro Growth Center Honors Day Awards Recipients
At the Honors Day awards ceremony in April, the Center recognized the following students:  Mary Carr Bendeck received the Urban Fellows award; James Flynn received the Environmental Law award; and David Easom received the Land Use Law award.  Read the full story.

Congratulations to the 2012-2013 Urban Fellows!
The Urban Fellows Program has accepted a record number of Fellows!  The 2012-2013 Urban Fellows are among the brightest students from GSU's College of Law, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Art and Design, Institute of Public Health, Georgia Tech's School of City and Regional Planning, and Emory University Law School.  The new Urban Fellows have a demonstrated commitment to solving urban, growth management, and environmental issues.  See the list of new Urban Fellows.

NEW!  A Certificate in Environmental and Land Use Law
The College of Law is pleased to announce two new certificate programs:  a Certificate in Environmental and Land Use Law, and a Certificate in Health Law.  Click here for more information. 

The Center Will Sponsor a Study Space Program in Istanbul, Turkey in April 2013
A Study Space is a week-long intensive workshop, in which academic scholars and professionals come together to study and develop solutions to challenges being faced by cities throughout the world.  This study space program will focus on disaster preparedness from an interdisciplinary perspective of land use policies, building restrictions and the handling of environmental refugees.  It will be a collaboration with the Payson Center for International Development at Tulane University's Law School and the law school at Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey.  The dates will be March 31 - April 6, 2013.

Moot Court Team Places Fourth in International Competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Congratulations to Francis Dixson (2L and Urban Fellow), Becca Lunceford (3L) and Reid Peacock (3L) for their achievements in the Inter-American Sustainable Development Law moot court competition this past March.  And a special thank you to their team coach, William Alexander (3L).  Read more about the competition.

Articles from the Festschrift Symposium Honoring Julian Juergensmeyer are Published
Professor Juergensmeyer was honored with a Festschrift Symposium celebrating his forty-fifth year of teaching law.  The symposium, A 2020 View of Urban Infrastructure, was sponsored by the Metro Growth Center.  Recently, the articles associated with the symposium were published in a dedicated edition of The Urban Lawyer, the national journal on state and local government law produced by the American Bar Association.  The special double issue features articles by Professor Juergensmeyer and Professor Bross at the College of Law, as well as leading scholars from all over the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.  Click here for the full article.

Juergensmeyer Co-Authors the First Handbook on the Transfer of Development Rights Programs
The TDR Handbook, Designing and Implementing Transfer of Development Rights Programs, is the first comprehensive book ever written on the subject.  It was written by the leading experts on TDR programs including Arthur C. Nelson, Rick Pruetz, Doug Woodruff, James C. Nicholas, Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer and Jonathan Witten.  Click here for the full article.

Juergensmeyer Updates the Sum & Substance Quick Review on Property
Professor Julian Juergensmeyer has recently co-authored an updated version of the Sum & Substance Quick Review on Property with Carol Necole Brown.  This supplement, now in its fifth edition, has become an essential tool for first year law students.  Click here for the full article.