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SMART people

What inspires me about SMART:

SMART brings together people from the business world with academics representing the environmental design fields and the social sciences to tackle tough problems and think about a what the future of our metropolitan areas might be.

Biography:

  Robert W. Marans is a research professor at the Institute for Social Research and a professor emeritus of architecture and urban planning in the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan. During the past 30 years, Dr. Marans has conducted evaluative studies and research dealing with various aspects of communities, neighborhoods, housing, and parks and recreation and recreational facilities. His research has focused on user requirements and the manner in which attributes of the physical and sociocultural environments influence individual and group behavior and the quality of community life. Much of Dr. Marans' research has been in the context of urban areas. His current research considers the impact of the built and natural environments on quality of life, the role of neighborhood in the health of Detroit residents, and issues of sustainability in the workplace. The latter examines the human dimensions of energy conservation at the University of Michigan

Marans is a registered architect and is active in recreation planning and policy in southeastern Michigan. He is a charter member and president of the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission and commissioner of the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority (HCMA), the governing body responsible for the planning, development, and operations of the metroparks throughout Southeastern Michigan. /He is also a trustee of the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Inc. He has previously served on the executive committee of the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, the board of the University’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, the Michigan Land Use Institute, and as a trustee of the Legacy Land Conservancy. Dr. Marans is the author or co-author of 7 books and more than 100 articles and technical reports. He has lectured extensively throughout the US, and in Europe, Asia, South Africa, Brazil, and the Middle East.