Arthur C. Nelson

Arthur C. Nelson, Ph.D., FAICP, is Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Planning and Real Estate Development in the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona. He is also Presidential Professor Emeritus of City & Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah.

For the past thirty years, Dr. Nelson has conducted pioneering research in growth management, urban containment, public facility finance, economic development, and metropolitan development patterns. Numerous organizations have sponsored Dr. Nelson's research, including the National Science Foundation; National Academy of Sciences; U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Commerce, and Transportation; U.K. Department of the Environment; Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Fannie Mae Foundation; American Planning Association; National Association of Realtors; and The Brookings Institution. His research and practice has led to the publication of 14 books and more than 200 other scholarly and professional publications.

Prior to academia, Dr. Nelson managed his own West Coast consultancy in planning and management, and continues to provide professional planning services. In 2000, his professional planning, education, and research accomplishments were recognized as the first Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners elected based on a national (as opposed to state) process. From 2000 to 2001, he served HUD as an expert on smart growth and growth management for the Clinton and Bush Administrations. In this capacity, he helped expand HUD's research scholarship programs and create HUD's doctoral fellowship program.

Dr. Nelson has earned three teacher of the year honors at two universities (Kansas State University and Georgia Tech), researcher of the year honors at a third (University of New Orleans), and scholar of the year honors at a fourth (Virginia Tech). His books have shaped the field of impact fees, growth management, and urban containment. His papers have won national awards and international distinction. Dr. Nelson's students have won numerous national awards including the national student project of the year award given by the American Institute of Certified Planners. His former doctoral students are becoming program chairs and research center directors across the U.S. Dr. Nelson has also received numerous commendations for his professional continuing education programs through which he has instructed more than 5,000 professionals in a variety of technical planning and facility financing subjects since the late 1990s.

Foundations of Real Estate Development Financing

A Guide to Public-Private Partnerships

America’s landscape is undergoing a profound transformation as demand grows for a different kind of American Dream--smaller homes on smaller lots, multifamily options, and walkable neighborhoods. This trend presents a tremendous opportunity to reinvent our urban and suburban areas. But in a time of fiscal austerity, how do we finance redevelopment needs? In Foundations of Real Estate Development Finance: A Guide for Public-Private Partnerships, urban scholar Arthur C.

Reshaping Metropolitan America

Development Trends and Opportunities to 2030

Nearly half the buildings that will be standing in 2030 do not exist today. That means we have a tremendous opportunity to reinvent our urban areas, making them more sustainable and livable for future generations. But for this vision to become reality, the planning community needs reliable data about emerging trends and smart projections about how they will play out. Arthur C.

The TDR Handbook

Designing and Implementing Transfer of Development Rights Programs

"Transfer of Development Rights" (TDR) programs allow local governments to put economic principles to work in encouraging good land use planning.

Megaregions

Planning for Global Competitiveness

The concept of “the city” —as well as “the state” and “the nation state” —is passé, agree contributors to this insightful book.

Environmental Regulations and Housing Costs

Many communities across the nation still lack affordable housing. And many officials continue to claim that “affordable housing” is an oxymoron. Building inexpensively is impossible, they say, because there are too many regulations. Required environmental impact statements and habitat protection laws, they contend, drive up the costs of construction. But is this actually true?

A Guide to Impact Fees and Housing Affordability

Impact fees are one-time charges that are applied to new residential developments by local governments that are seeking funds to pay for the construction or expansion of public facilities, such as water and sewer systems, schools, libraries, and parks and recreation facilities. In the face of taxpayer revolts against increases in property taxes, impact fees are used increasingly by local governments throughout the U.S. to finance construction or improvement of their infrastructure.