Who We Are
Planned Densification & Urban Betterment’s cofounding members Mark Smith, Errol Cowan, and legal counsel Dan Slone are profiled below.–
MARK SMITH, Cofounder Urban Betterment
Mark Smith
- Mark Smith’s 30 year market research career started in the early 1980s with Questor Associates in San Francisco (Stephen E. Roulac’s firm which was the precursor to Deloitte Touche’s real estate consulting practice). In 1982, Smith joined with the Sanford R. Goodkin Research Corporation. The Sanford R. Goodkin Research Corporation was acquired by KPMG Peat Marwick in 1987, to augment KPMGs accounting and tax practice across the United States. Smith worked in KPMG’s National Real Estate Practice for nine years, gaining institutional real estate experience. At KMPG, Smith also studied appraisal and also corporate business process redesign—a skill that has added to his understanding of how to design and manage positive change in real estate projects and in development organizations.In the 1980s, Smith began integrating what is now called New Urbanism into his client studies. In the early 1990s, Smith began integrating green building and sustainability.
In 1995, after nine years with KPMG, Smith founded Pario Research and, following years of interest in sustainability and urban betterment, dedicated Pario to helping clients understand feasible ways to improve financial and environmental performance, and to create real estate developments that more strongly connect with their community. When Pario was formed over 25 years ago, it was the first urban research company in the United States to work with the urban betterment programs known as new urbanism, green building, and smart growth—which have now become strong trends that are pursued by developers and municipalities. Pario has a long and groundbreaking record of consulting, publishing, speaking, and implementation of these programs.
Mark Smith is a cofounder of Urban Betterment. Contact him at MarkSmith@UrbanBetterment.com.
For more, please see–
–ERROL COWAN, Cofounder Urban Betterment
Errol Cowan
Errol Cowan adds multiple decades of varied experience to the PD team. He graduated from UC Berkeley with an MBA and a multiple PhD degree array in real estate economics urban planning and urban geography. Errol has balanced professional experience in both public and private sectors as right of way agent appraiser, land economist, expert witness, Realtor, property/portfolio manager environmental impact analyst and developer. Among his favorite professional activities is strategic and innovative development project planning.
As a consultant, Dr. Cowan has served diverse clients including but not limited to Fannie Mae, City of Santa Fe City of Santa Maria, Union Pacific Shell, US Navy and numerous development companies. He served as Associate Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia. and has been noted for his green development model project and his Eco-tourism resort. Errol employs his comprehensive and holistic understanding of development processes, institution and role players that enables innovative approaches to his work for his clients.
Errol is cofounder of Urban Betterment. For more biographical information about Errol–
DAN SLONE: Lawyer, Author, & Speaker–Of Counsel
Dan Slone
Dan Slone was a partner in the Richmond office of the international law firm of McGuireWoods for decades before opening his own firm, Vertical Vision, in 2018. He represents energy companies, green product manufacturers, and the developers of large-scale mixed-use, pedestrian oriented communities utilizing innovative approaches to sustainable and resilient development. He assists owners with the monetization of environmental services, and helps develop innovative infill, greenfield, and retrofit projects by drafting new codes, obtaining land use and environmental entitlements, drafting governance documents, and negotiating public/private partnership arrangements.
These days he focuses much of his practice on the place-making opportunities enabled by protecting biodiversity and dark skies, while weaving together community stories that propel community values into the future.
Dan has represented numerous national and international non-profits over the years and served on the boards of others. He has represented the US Green Building Council, the World Building Council, the Congress for the New Urbanism, EcoDistricts, Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, Groundswell, and Building Transparency. Dan served on the boards of the CNU, the Form-Based Codes Council, the Resilient Design Institute, and the Transect Code Council. He has won awards for his environmental service and has consistently been on lists of top lawyers for businesses. He was named a “Fellow” for the Congress for the New Urbanism.
A few years ago, Dan delivered a TEDx talk, and he has spoken internationally on a wide range of subjects. He has co-written all of, or written chapters in, nine non-fiction books. He is finishing writing a new non-fiction book entitled Saving the Dark Night and Her Children: resisting artificial light’s encroachment. He’s also written three fantasy novels focusing on relationships between humans and other living things on Earth.
For more biographical information about Dan–
