Indigenous Peoples and Real Estate Valuation

Robert A. Simons is a Professor and former director of the Master of Urban Planning, Design and Development program at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio. He is also the faculty advisor for the Certificate Program in Real Estate Development and Finance, offered in conjunction with the Nance College of Business at CSU. During Fall 2005, Dr. Simons was a Fulbright Scholar at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Simons received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in City and Regional Planning, with an emphasis in real estate. He also holds a Master of Regional Planning and a Master of Science in Economics, both from U.N.C. His undergraduate degree in anthropology was earned at Colorado State University. He has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1983. At the Levin College of Urban Affairs, Dr. Simons teaches courses in real estate development, market analysis and finance, public economics Ph.D. research methods and environmental finance. Dr. Simons has published over 40 articles and book chapters on real estate, urban redevelopment, environmental damages, housing policy and brownfields redevelopment. He authored a book entitled Turning Brownfields into Greenbacks, (published by Urban Land Institute), and When Bad Things Happen to Good Property, (published by Environmental Law Institute in 2006), and is the lead editor for an international research monograph on Indigenous Property and Valuation (forthcoming in 2008, ARES). Dr. Simons has an active consulting practice, and has served as an expert witness on over 45 matters related to real estate, housing markets, and environmental contamination

• to the ARES Monograph on Indigenous Peoples and Real Estate Valuation.- Indigenous Landholding Institutions as an Impediment to Economic Use of Land: Case Studies of Tamale and Bolgatanga in Ghana.- Real Estate Practices Among Indigenous Peoples in Southern Africa: A Clash of Real Estate Systems on the Urban Fringe.- A Brief History of Native American Land Ownership.- Indigenous Land Claims in Canada: A Retrospective Analysis.- The Metaphysics of Indigenous Ownership: Why Indigenous Ownership is Incomparable to Western Conceptions of Property Value.- A Just Integration of Western and Customary Land Rights in Australia.- Valuation of Yoruba Sacred Shrines, Monuments, and Groves for Compensation.- Land Restitution and Restitution Valuation in South Africa.- Property Rights and Land Market Dynamics: An Economic Interpretation of the Indigenous Land Tenure Transformation Process in Nigeria.- The 21st Century Property Challenge: Reconciling Spirituality, Sacred Places, and Profit-Seeking Property Involvements.- This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land: Toward a Global Analysis of the Determinants of Successful Indigenous Tribal Land Claims.