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

Apply Now for the 2012-2013 Urban Fellows Program
Applications are currently being accepted for next year's Urban Fellows Program.  The Urban Fellows Program is open to GSU law students, other GSU graduate students, and graduate students at Georgia Tech's School of City and Regional Planning.  The Urban Fellows Program is an initiative of the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth in the College of Law.  Click here for more information about the program and an application.

Metro Growth Center Sponsors a Moot Court Team to Compete in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Francis Dixson (2L), Becca Lunceford (3L), and Reid Peacock (3L) will be traveling to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to compete in the Inter-American Sustainable Development Law moot court competition on March 2 and 3.  William Alexander (3L) is coaching the team, and will also travel with the team.  The competition will focus mainly on sustainable development law; however, other areas of the law such as human rights, energy and environmental law are interwoven.  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.

Constitutional Environmental Law Writing Competition
The Environmental Law Institute, American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, and the National Association of Environmental Law Societies are sponsoring a student writing competition.  Law students are invited to submit a paper exploring a current issue of constitutional environmental law.  The award is a $2000 cash prize, publication in the Environmental Law Reporter, and a one year membership to ELI.  The deadline is April 13, 2012.  Click here for more details.

Congratulations to the 2011-2012 Urban Fellows!
This year's Urban Fellows are among the brightest students from Georgia State University's College of Law, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Communications, Community Psychology, Criminal Justice and Sociology departments, 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.