Research Projects

To achieve the regional greenhouse gas emission reduction targets required by Senate Bill (SB) 375, (Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act of 2008), local governments and landowners must implement the smart growth plans developed and adopted by regional planning organizations. Therefore, the success of SB 375 is subject to decisions made by local land use authorities and local developers. Incentives have been introduced to influence these decisions, and more are planned, but their effectiveness is unproven.
This project will estimate the economic costs and benefits of implementing smart growth plans and projects, both from a regional perspective and from the perspectives of local agencies and other interest groups. It will do so by studying cases of smart growth strategies implemented in California. The purpose of the project is to clarify which smart growth strategies work best from a benefit-cost perspective in different land use and planning contexts, and to inform the design of municipal incentives to promote those strategies.