What is smart growth?
Smart growth is an approach to community design that connects housing, transportation, and land use to create healthy, prosperous, and resilient neighborhoods.
About us
Smart Growth America cultivates vibrant, sustainable communities with diverse living and transportation options, enhancing quality of life for all.
Our work
Smart Growth America cultivates vibrant, sustainable communities with diverse living and transportation options, enhancing quality of life for all.
Explore Our Signature Reports
Impact
Smart Growth America cultivates vibrant, sustainable communities with diverse living and transportation options, enhancing quality of life for all.
Events
Throughout the year, we host a number of in-person and virtual events covering topics related to public health, social equity, and climate resilience.
Focus Areas
Climate resilience
Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it’s here, and it’s reshaping the places we live. Rising temperatures, flooding, wildfires, and extreme weather are putting lives, homes, and infrastructure at risk, with low-income communities facing the most severe consequences. We help communities adapt to these realities while rethinking how we plan, build, and grow to avoid greater harm.
Why smart growth is the right strategy to advance climate resilience
The land use and transportation sectors are among the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.—and they are also key levers for reducing risk for the people who live in our communities. Sprawling development drives emissions, worsens climate impacts, and puts more people in harm’s way. Smart growth offers a better path.
By encouraging compact, connected development near jobs, transit, and essential services, we can reduce emissions, protect green space, and make communities more resilient to extreme weather events. Climate resilience and adaptation—especially for communities on the frontlines—require land-use and transportation decisions that plan for sustainability, inclusivity, and long-term well-being.
How we lead
We integrate climate goals into transportation, housing, and land use decisions. Our work equips local leaders and advocates with tools to build more resilient places and address the needs of neighborhoods most at risk.
- Supporting local advocates and governments through climate-focused technical assistance
- Advancing policies that align land use, housing, and transportation with climate goals
- Uplifting community-led solutions
- Promoting resilience strategies for neighborhoods most at risk
Our work
Resources
Growing a Clean Economy: An Analysis of Equitable Employment Opportunities in Atlanta, GA
Growing a Clean Economy—A collaborative Climate Change, Health & Equity project by SGA and the Partnership for Southern Equity
Transition Recommendations for the Biden Administration
The Great Real Estate Reset
Driving Down Emissions
Join the Movement
Support policies and initiatives that promote smart growth, equitable development, and access to affordable housing.
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Livable places. Healthy people. Shared prosperity.
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