The Texas Metropolitan Blueprint is an actionable five-year plan to ensure the continuing prosperity and growth of Texas’s communities using a comprehensive, cross-sector approach to align policy and action at state and local levels. Developed via a collaboration among the LBJ School of Public Affairs Urban Lab at The University of Texas at Austin, the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative and the Hobby School of Public Affairs at the University of Houston, the Blueprint draws on the insights of more than 175 business, government and nonprofit leaders, representing Democratic, Republican and nonpartisan perspectives.

The Blueprint’s strategy and policy recommendations span economic development, housing and land use, infrastructure, natural resources and AI technology. Its authors were guided by six principles—supporting innovation, encouraging talent-driven growth, transforming global challenges into local opportunities, engaging the private sector and foundations, encouraging private sector entrepreneurship, and public sector investments in infrastructure.

Texas’s 26 metropolitan areas, home to 90% of its population, are the engines of its economic growth. The Texas Metropolitan Blueprint outlines an actionable five-year plan to ensure their long-term prosperity and competitiveness. 

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Media Release, Jan. 23, 2025

Report Authors

J.H. Cullum Clark is an adjunct professor of economics at SMU and the director of the George W. Bush Institute-SMU Economic Growth Initiative, where he leads the Institute’s work on domestic economic policy and economic growth. 

Renée Cross is the senior executive director and a researcher at the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs. She serves as a principal investigator in the Hobby School’s survey research on local and state politics and policy while overseeing government internship programs, civic engagement projects, and external relations. 

Sherri R. Greenberg is a professor of practice and fellow of the Max Sherman Chair in State and Local Government at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin and a professor of practice at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She is also the LBJ School Assistant Dean for State and Local Government Engagement. 

Steven W. Pedigo is the assistant dean for faculty of practice and policy engagement and the founding executive director of the LBJ Urban Lab at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. 

Pablo M. Pinto is a distinguished professor and director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs, with an affiliation in political science. 

Maria P. Perez Argüelles is a research associate at the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs.