Elana Messner, a 2007 graduate of the Urban Studies and Planning Program, has been published in the spring 2008 edition of Real Estate Review, a quarterly publication of Thomson-West and edited by Margaret McFarland, the director of the Colvin Institute of Real Estate Development at Maryland's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

Messner's article, "Cities Without Land Markets: A Case Study From St. Petersburg, Russia," was based on her 2006 studio experience to St. Petersburg, Russia, and addresses the impacts of environmental contamination and market risks on land valuation, which ultimately affects the proposed land development's financial viability.  The studio study was led by Professors Marie Howland and David Falk and included six students from the University of Maryland's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. 

McFarland calls the article relevant to brownfield redevelopment in the United States, as well as to HOPE VI public housing redevelopment and military housing privatization. "If you only have a few minutes to devote to the [Review] this month," McFarland writes, "make this the one article you read, as it...definitely packs a punch."