Study says Md. law fails to direct growth, save open space - washingtonpost.com

But a new study says the law has been a bust, largely because it has no teeth to force local governments to comply and because builders have little incentive to redevelop older urban neighborhoods.

That's the conclusion of the study by University of Maryland scholars who lead the institute the former governor founded to promote the policy. The idea behind Maryland's celebrated smart-growth program seemed sound: To ease traffic jams and air and water pollution and preserve farmland, development would be focused into dense, urban settlements near train and bus stations. The state would stop subsidizing sprawl and instead direct money for roads, sewer lines and other investments to urban areas.