Rybak selected for national urban land use fellowship

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is one of four mayors chosen for a fellowship at a Washington D.C.-based organization that focuses on urban land use and development.

Rybak will serve in a fellowship for the Urban Land Institute's Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use through 2010. The mayors of Nashville, Philadelphia and Phoenix were also chosen for the program.

According to a news release from the institute, Rybak and the other fellows will learn from each other and be provided with information and analysis that will help them "successfully build and sustain their cities."

Rybak and the other mayors will also each lead three other fellows from their cities. For Minneapolis, that includes city planning director Barbara Sporlein, City Council member Gary Schiff and Steve Kotke, city engineer and public works director.

This year's fellows are serving as the inaugural class for the program, which was established in 2008.

Patrick Phillips, the institute's chief executive officer, said in a statement that the program will help the fellows "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."