The mayors of Minneapolis, Nashville, Philadelphia and Phoenix are among 16 community leaders selected to participate in fellowships for the Washington-based Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use. The fellowships will provide a year-long forum to help the four mayors and their teams address the most challenging land use issues facing their communities. Over the year, each city’s team will work with experts in real estate development, finance and land use to address complex land use issues facing each community.

Each of the four mayors — Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon — is leading a team of three additional fellows, including public- and private-sector representatives, from their respective cities. The teams were selected based on previous displays of land use leadership, diversity of location and market types, and their potential to position their cities on a sustainable path for economic prosperity in years ahead.

“The current national economic crisis brings unprecedented challenges to bear on our cities. This is taking a toll on America’s overall economic stability, because the nation’s economy is largely based on the strength of its metropolitan areas,” said ULI Chief Executive Officer Patrick Phillips in a statement. “The Urban Land Institute looks forward to working with the Daniel Rose Fellows to help them identify and seize unique opportunities to re-make their cities for the 21st century, and to establish a course for success that can be applied to other cities.”

More information on the fellowship program is available at www.uli.org.