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

Michigan policy makers are struggling to find and implement policies that will lead to the restoration of Michigan’s ailing economy. In order to succeed, policy makers need to understand that state economic success will be tied to the success of Michigan “places,” in the context of the new, global economy, and which will be dependent on the policies and strategies state and regional leaders implement to help improve the performance and sustainability of places.

The term, “place,” recognizes the importance of both physical attributes of specific geographic areas (the built environment and natural environment) and other social, economic and environmental attributes that give places their unique signature. Unique place attributes increasingly define the spatial distribution of economic activity through a complex and dynamic process in which the assets of places interact with and affect growth in income, employment and population.

Successful places will look and feel different in the future than they have in the past—reinvented to be more responsive to the intellectual, business and social needs of the highly educated, skilled and entrepreneurial; more responsive to technological advances; conducive to social interaction; and exhibiting a small environmental footprint. Recent and emerging advances in communication, building, transportation, energy, manufacturing, waste and water management technology have the capacity to dramatically change the built, natural and cultural environment in the next 10 to 40 years. Policy makers and members of the economic development community who understand the economic, social and environmental impacts of those advances can help make places of the future successful and sustainable.

Seminar Series:
To address this issue, the Michigan Higher Education Land Policy (MIHELP) Consortium is hosting a series of seminars on “Reinventing Prosperous Places,” will take place Thursdays from February 4-April 29, 2010. The series was designed specifically to bring together faculty researchers, and educate funders, stakeholders and state, regional and local policy makers as well as graduate and undergraduate students on the importance of prosperous places in the new global economy. The purpose of the seminars is to:

Focus the work of researchers at four Michigan universities on what it will take to turn Michigan places around.
Highlight recent research that can inform policy makers today (two to three research presentations at each session).
Outline the direction of tomorrow’s research.
Link the research, policy, stakeholder and funding community around ideas to reinvent Michigan Places.

Each seminar will feature faculty teams consisting of two to three members who will present papers on the work they are doing related to the various topic areas, and will discuss what they envision as policy implications and for future research, outreach and curriculum development in the study area. In addition, each event will include discussants and audience participation, and explore how to take research and outreach in those areas further. Click here to view a listing of speakers.

Each seminar will be run simultaneously from 11:30am to 1:30pm (except for February 18, see new time below) at Michigan State University (usually 315 Human Ecology), Grand Valley State University (302E DeVos), Wayne State University (TBA) and the University of Michigan (TBA). Select seminar sessions will originate in each of the universities. Note: Additional room availability for small groups to hear the presentations and participate in facilitated discussion of the topics will be announced shortly. Each seminar will also be available via free webinar. Participation is free. Please RSVP to John Warbach at warbach@landpolicy.msu.edu your intention to join the webinar or attend the live site of the each seminar.

The date and location(s) for each seminar is as follows:

Place and Placemaking Models, Policies, Strategies and Economic Impact
February 4, 2010
Michigan State University, 315 Human Ecology, East Lansing
Grand Valley State University, 167 Lake Ontario Hall, Allendale

Public Space (Green Infrastructure and Urban Amenity Spaces) Models, Policies, Strategies and Economic Impact
February 11, 2010
Michigan State University, 315 Human Ecology, East Lansing

Food Deserts and Food Security: Economic, Social, Health and Environmental Impacts of Imbalances in Access and Demand
February 18, 2010, from 10:20am-11:40am
Michigan State University, S109 South Kedzie Hall, East Lansing

Brownfield Utilization Models, Policies, Strategies and Economic Impact
March 4, 2010
Michigan State University, 315 Human Ecology, East Lansing

Social Justice Impacts on Place Performance
March 18, 2010
University of Michigan, 2104 Art and Architecture, Ann Arbor

Social Networking Models, Policies, Strategies and Economic Impact
March 25, 2010
Michigan State University, 315 Human Ecology, East Lansing

Models of Sustainable Growth and the Economic Impacts
April 1, 2010
Grand Valley State University, 2201 Kirkhof, Allendale

The Impact of Mindset on the Economic Performance of Places
April 8, 2010
Michigan State University, 315 Human Ecology, East Lansing

Knowledge Infrastructure Models, Policies, Strategies and Economic Impact
April 15, 2010
Location TBA

Transportation and Transit Models, Policies, Strategies and Economic Impact
April 29, 2010
Wayne State University, room TBA, Detroit

Check back soon for updates. 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