Presidential Professor
Bio
Dr. Arthur C. (Christian “Chris”) Nelson, FAICP, is Presidential Professor of City & Metropolitan Planning at the University of Utah where he is also Director of the Metropolitan Research Center.
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. He has written more than 20 books and more than 300 other works.
Numerous organizations have sponsored Dr. Nelson’s research such as the National Science Foundation; National Academy of Sciences; U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, and Transportation; Environmental Protection Agency; Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Fannie Mae; American Planning Association; National Association of Realtors; Urban Land Institute; and The Brookings Institution.
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 with election to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners. In 2000-01, 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 university scholarship programs and create HUD’s doctoral fellowship program.
Dr. Nelson serves in various editorial capacities for the Journal of the American Planning Association, Housing Policy Debate Journal of Urban Affairs, Journal of Planning Education and Research, and the Journal of Planning Literature.
Dr. Nelson has earned scholarship honors at Virginia Tech, several teaching honors and scholarship commendations at Georgia Tech, and researcher of the year honors at the University of New Orleans. His books have shaped the fields of infrastructure finance, growth management, and land use planning. Dr. Nelson’s writings have won national awards and international distinction. His students have won numerous national awards including the national student project of the year award given by the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Dr. Nelson’s current work focuses on how demographic economic forces along with shifts in housing preference will reshape America’s metropolitan areas for the rest of this century.
Specialization(s)
Metropolitan development policy and patterns
Growth management/urban containment
Public facility planning and finance
Real estate development trends
Metropolitan governance
Urban redevelopment methods
