MIHELP — Michigan Higher Education Land Policy Consortium

Welcome to MIHELP Website

The Michigan Higher Education Land Policy (MIHELP) Consortium is the first statewide initiative of its kind as a multi-university, inter-disciplinary, public-private partnership designed to address the fundamental research and outreach void in urban and metropolitan issues in the state of Michigan. We welcome everyone to take advantage of our website in anyway that is helpful and to please contact us directly with any questions or comments.

MIHELP is able to take momentous action on important land use issues across the state because of the collaborative efforts between the state leaders in land policy from our partner institutions listed below.

Click on these links to go to the websites of our partner institutions:

GVSU Metropolitan Strategy Initiative

Wayne State University

MSU Land Policy Institute

Public Sector Consultants

Michigan Suburbs Alliance

MSU Center for Community and Economic Development

Faculty at the University of Michigan also collaborates on MIHELP activities. A list of specific faculty at the University of Michigan is under development. Faculty expertise in land policy, urban issues and place-based strategies at the University of Michigan is available at:

U-M A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning

U-M School of Natural Resources and the Environment

Reinventing Prosperous Places Seminar Series:
February 4-April 29, 2010

The Michigan Higher Education Land Policy (MIHELP) Consortium wrapped up its series of seminars on Reinventing Prosperous Places on Thursday, April 29, 2010. Webinar recordings and presentations from this and prior seminars in the series are available for viewing online. A total of 20 seminar presentations are posted, providing insight into multiple dimensions of what it will take to reinvent places for prosperity in the New Economy.

For more information about the seminars, contact LPI’s Dr. John Warbach at warbach@msu.edu or 517.884.0795.

LPI’s MIHELP Consortium Releases Book on Sustaining Metropolitan Communities

Academics across Michigan are researching policy that will define the state's future. Creating sustainable metropolitan communities in the 21st century poses great challenges for Michigan and other states in the region.

The Michigan Higher Education Land Policy (MIHELP) Consortium released “Sustaining Michigan: Metropolitan Policies and Strategies” to link critical, cutting-edge scholarship to pressing issues facing Michigan's metropolitan communities and to increase an understanding of the key economic, environmental, social and political reasons for why change is underway, the challenges to the current system, and the difficulty for Michigan in making substantive changes.

Key metropolitan policies and strategies in the book are organized around sustainability principles of the triple-bottom line: economic prosperity, environmental stewardship and social good. This volume includes a range of academics from across the state who examined existing policies that will define Michigan's future. The well-being of Michigan may very well depend on the critical knowledge and understanding of the complex issues addressed in this book to affect both the current and next generation of decision makers.

Purchase: “Sustaining Michigan” is available for purchase through Michigan State University Press for “$24.95 plus tax.

Presentations available from 2008 MIHELP Consortium Symposium

A diverse group of insightful community leaders, educators and legislators led a conversation on “Rescuing Low Performing Cities: Policies to Deal with Cities that Empty Out” at a MIHELP Symposium on Monday, November 17, 2008, in Detroit. The symposium focused on city depopulation, its impacts and the strategies that could reverse the trend or soften the negative effects of city decline. It showcased the work of academic researchers and others, including elected officials and practicing professionals. More

Urban Policy Research Series is available online

In 2007, policy research was commissioned on priority topics identified by the Urban Core Mayors. The Michigan State University Center for Community and Economic Development (CCED), in partnership with the MIHELP consortium, connected Michigan’s elected leaders with its finest urban scholars to address the critical urban policy issues facing our state to support local and state policy development for cities. More

State of the Cities Report is available online

State of Michigan Cities: An Index of Urban Prosperity, an official publication of MIHELP is summarized here in several formats for the use of students, staff, academics or other interested individuals. To download in several formats, click here