CUPR has been a dominant force in the field of land-use analysis—especially comprehensive planning and the control of sprawl development patterns. This expertise led to the selection of CUPR by the New Jersey Office of State Planning twice to undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of New Jersey's State Development and Redevelopment Plan on the state’s economy, environment, infrastructure, agriculture, and government finance. Building on this experience CUPR researchers have analyzed and documented the "costs of sprawl" for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences, the states of Florida, Maryland, Michigan, and South Carolina, and numerous regional and local governments.

CUPR's model residential subdivision ordinance guided legislation mandating uniform development standards adopted by the New Jersey State Legislature. Center faculty later extended this work to include development standards for commercial and industrial properties. With funding by the National Science Foundation, CUPR has led a team of twenty experts to develop a national research agenda on urban and regional sustainability.

In the environmental arena, CUPR faculty advised Los Angeles's South Coast Air Quality Management District in developing the nation's first regional-level marketable permit program for air pollution control. The Center also collaborated with researchers in California to estimate the economic impacts of air pollution controls on the California economy for the state's Air Resources Board. Center staff have assisted the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on several projects: identifying possibilities for integrating pollution prevention programs with economic development efforts; designing a program of tax incentives for pollution prevention; providing economic advice on the state’s first basin-wide water planning project, located in the Whippany River area; and teaching professional courses to air regulators to help them incorporate economic concerns into their rule formulation process.

CUPR's expertise in the areas of environmental dispute resolution, public participation in facility siting, radioactive waste-siting issues, energy and water supply development, institutional analysis of environmental policy, and transportation analysis has been called on by diverse clients, including The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Matsushita Corporation, the Ontario (Canada) Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Siting Task Force, and the Hazardous Substance Management Research Center of New Jersey.