The Urban Land Institute, or ULI, is a global nonprofit research and education organization with regional offices in Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and London.

The Institute provides technical assistance in communities via advisory panels, hosts conferences, produces reports, collects and shares industry benchmarks and guidance, and offers learning opportunities and courses.

The Institute would conduct a number of multiyear comparative land use studies and begin spreading their influence abroad by holding its first international meeting for sustaining members in Mexico City in 1965.

UrbanPlan, the Institute's second high school program, was created with the help of a grant award from the National Geographic Society Education Foundation.

That same year, the first ULI Mayor's Forum was held with the intention of creating a venue for city officials and the private sector to meet and seek solutions to urban problems.

[24] In 2011, the National Building Museum announced ULI as the 2012 Honor Award recipient for its years of dedication to leadership in urban planning and developing sustainable communities.

[28][29] Since the middle of the 20th century, ULI has been hired by city governments and private land owners as consultants for tackling local real estate and development problems through the advisory services program.

These multidisciplinary teams - consisting of members with expertise in architecture, urban planning, transportation consulting, finance, and market trends - have had many of their recommendations adopted or implemented.

[30][31] The institute's local district councils, have provided events for government officials and private industry leaders to deliberate about future land use challenges and have also established an UrbanPlan classroom-based curriculum that been widely adopted by schools across the United States and Canada, and expanded globally.

[32][33][34] In addition, ULI has taken part in a number of partnerships in order to provide leadership and awareness in urban development practices, including one with the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The panels have helped sponsors find solutions on topics including community revitalization, workforce and affordable housing, resilient infrastructure, and equitable access to parks.

[36] Panels have also provided expert and objective advice in the wake of natural and man-made disasters such as hurricanes, flood, infrastructure failures and tornados and acts of terrorism.

[37] Some noteworthy ULI panels include its recommendations for redeveloping a four-mile stretch of downtown Los Angeles into a CleanTech Corridor[38] and its advice on how to revitalize Denver’s 16th Street Mall.

[39] ULI's panels have also offered consultant work for post-catastrophic redevelopment, including the 2007 I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse in Minneapolis, Minnesota[40] as well as advise to officials on how to rebuild Lower Manhattan after the 9/11 attacks.

[42][43] UrbanPlan is a reality-based educational program originally created by the ULI San Francisco chapter in 2002 and now being delivered by District Councils in over 35 cities.

[44][45] The core of the curriculum involves a fictitious scenario where students respond to a city request for proposals (RFP) to redevelop a 11.75 acre community.

[33][34][44] Industry experts serve as volunteers and meet with the teams twice during the building process and then again as a mock City Council to select the winning proposal.

[50] The Terwilliger Center also runs ULI’s Homeless to Housed program, an initiative to identify and implement best practices and effective solutions for addressing the needs of unhoused populations.

It is funded by philanthropist and entrepreneur Preston Butcher, and was launched in Summer 2022 with the release of the research report “Homeless to Housed: The ULI Perspective Based on Actual Case Studies”.

[51][52] The program will help communities develop and implement strategies to address homelessness through conducting research, promoting collaboration, providing technical assistance through ULI’s network of district councils, and sharing knowledge and expertise.

[61] The center was renamed in January 2022 to honor real estate developer Randall Lewis after he donated $10 million to support ULI’s sustainability programs.

[69][67] Building Healthy Places helps members take action on opportunities to enhance health and social and racial equity through their professional practice and leadership in communities.

The Initiative helps District Councils engage on pressing land use issues, including equitable access to parks and the revitalization of commercial corridors.

[64][65] The Urban Resilience program works with ULI members to provide technical assistance, advance knowledge through research, and catalyze the adoption of transformative practices for real estate and land use policy.

[79] Past winners of the ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development include Mayor Richard M. Daley,[80] Amanda Burden,[81] Peter Calthorpe,[82] and Vincent Scully,[83] His Highness the Aga Khan, Gerald D. Hines,[84] Robin Chase,[85] Theaster Gates,[86] Alejandro Aravena,[87] and Anthony Williams,[88] and Jeanne Gang.

Founded in 1979, the ULI Global Awards for Excellence recognizes the best new developments in the world based on design, marketplace acceptance, economic impact, sustainability, technology, and other factors.

[107] The local district councils host networking events, conferences, technical advisory panels, and awards programs for the area's members.