WASHINGTON (October 3, 2008) – A new ULI initiative to educate decision makers on the importance of integrating infrastructure with land use planning, housing and sustainable development practices is being supported by ULI Trustee James J. Curtis III, managing partner, Bristol Group, Inc. in San Francisco. The ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project will be implemented through ULI’s network of District Councils.

“This program is to facilitate a new way of thinking and looking at our built environment,” remarked Curtis. “More than half of the built environment in 2050 will be built between now and then. We must revise the land use patterns of the past 50 years and create more efficient and effective infrastructure and buildings in order to maintain economic competitiveness and sustainability. The backbone of land use in the future depends on infrastructure. I really believe we can change the world if we integrate infrastructure, housing and sustainable development into land use planning, and thereby reduce our carbon footprint by 30 percent with compact development patterns.”

Four District Councils have been selected to participate in this three-year program: Minneapolis, Chicago, Seattle and Florida. Each District Council will define a program of work that responds effectively to the specific infrastructure and land use challenges faced by their region, with the expectation that their efforts will provide models for better infrastructure decision making at the national level.

The ULI/Curtis Regional Infrastructure Project seeks to improve infrastructure decision making by linking land use with regional transportation and sustainable development considerations. The time is now to engage regional policy makers to develop best practices to encourage density, sustainability and responsible growth. Done successfully, these approaches will reduce driving and energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases. In the face of escalating prices and diminishing public and private resources for infrastructure investments, the U.S. must overhaul its system for planning and funding infrastructure to help ensure a more sustainable, competitive future for

all Americans.

This program builds on ULI’s action agenda for infrastructure and advances the eight principles that will help make better communities, regions, and the nation an appealing, competitive, and sustainable place in which to live, work and play. These principles are:

!) Develop and build on a vision.

2) Invest strategically, linking transportation and land use.

3) Fix and maintain existing infrastructure first.

4) Reduce driving.

5) Couple land-use decisions with water availability.

6) Break down government “silos.”

7) Pay up by supporting infrastructure spending that supports sustainable development.

8) Keep score and reward municipalities that invest in infrastructure.

Dedicated funding will enable ULI to provide technical support and guidance to the four District Councils in their efforts to change infrastructure decision making as it relates to land use and community building. A full-time staff member in the Infrastructure Initiatives Group will be dedicated to this effort as well as programming assistance by ULI’s Senior Resident Fellows. A Transportation Summit will be held annually to share best practices with all District Councils.

“To make this effective and successful, we need to develop a consistent framework between the content implications and visioning within the District Councils, the neighborhoods and communities and make it unique to those areas,” Curtis emphasized.

The Urban Land Institute’s infrastructure initiative engages ULI members and others in an important discussion about the future of infrastructure in the U.S. and around the world. Through this program, ULI works to promote sustainable infrastructure policies that support compact land use and reduce energy consumption.

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute (www.uli.org) is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the Institute has more than 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines.