Release of Leading the American City
The Initiative on Cities is proud to release Leading the American City, a five-part video history of American mayoral leadership, governance, and power. The series features personal interviews with eight transformative mayors, who reflect on their time in office and offer insight into the job of mayor. The featured mayors include: Karl Dean, More
Manchester Summer Fellow – Juliahna Green
The Initiative on Cities is delighted to welcome Juliahna Green as its Undergraduate Student Fellow for the City of Manchester, England, for the summer. Juliahna Green is a senior studying economics in the College of Arts and Sciences. She currently interns at Roca, a local not-for-profit aimed to combat cyclical poverty. More
Initiative on Cities Releases New Report on City Networks
On April 23, 2018 in New York City, the Boston University Initiative on Cities, with support from Citi Community Development and The Rockefeller Foundation, released “Cities Joining Ranks—Policy Networks on the Rise”. This newest report, which draws on data from the 2017 Menino Survey of Mayors as well as new... More
Meet Jessica Bajada-Silva, 2018 Racial Equity Summer Fellow
The Initiative on Cities and the Howard Thurman Center are delighted to welcome Jessica Bajada-Silva as its Undergraduate Student Fellow for the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Resilience and Racial Equity this summer. Jessica Bajada-Silva is a junior studying Environmental Analysis and Policy in the College of Arts and Sciences. More
The Best Solutions For Breaking the Incarceration Cycle
On April 18, Jen Doleac visited the Initiative on Cities to lecture on programs and policies to productively incorporate the formerly-incarcerated into their communities. Doleac is an Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the Batten School, and Director of the Justice Tech Lab at UVA. Two thirds of those... More
New Urban Mechanics Summer Fellow – Emily Rackleff
The Initiative on Cities is delighted to welcome Emily Rackleff as its Graduate Student Fellow for the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics this summer. Emily Rackleff is an MBA and MS candidate in the Questrom School of Business, focusing on Social Impact and Digital Innovation respectively. She... More
A Conversation on Gun Violence and Police Shootings in the U.S.
On April 11, BU School of Public Health Professor Michael Siegel and former Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges visited the Initiative on Cities to discuss firearm violence and community-police relations. Siegel discussed his research on the link between structural racism and fatal police shooting, and Hodges detailed her work as mayor... More
Providence Summer Fellow – Johnathan Williams
The Initiative on Cities is delighted to welcome Johnathan Williams as its Graduate Student Fellow for the City of Providence’s Department of Innovation this summer. Johnathan Williams is a Ph.D. candidate in History in the College of Arts and Sciences. He received a BA and MA from the University of Northern... More
Conflict and Cleavages in US Cities
On Wednesday, April 4th, 2018 Peter Bucchianeri, a Ph.D Candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School, joined the Initiative on Cities to share research in progress on Conflict and Cleavages Under Democratic One-Party Rule. Democratic Dominance in Big-City Politics Recent trends of increasingly democratic city councils and mayoral leadership have been seen... More
Manchester Summer Fellow – Elizabeth Champion
The Initiative on Cities is delighted to welcome Elizabeth Champion as its Undergraduate Student Fellow for the City of Manchester, England, for the summer. Elizabeth Champion is a sophomore studying economics in the College of Arts and Science. Avid about the economics and history of cities, she hopes to eventually pursue... More
Boston Area Research Initiative Conference Today
On Friday, April 27, 2018, the Initiative on Cities partnered with the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) to host their Spring Conference: Confronting Inequality and Economic Mobility: Data-Driven Lessons From Boston, For Boston. Check out the full agenda and abstracts of conference presenters, including academics, practitioners, and civic leaders from the... More
Cities Joining Ranks: Policy Networks on the Rise
On Monday, April 23, 2018, the Boston University Initiative on Cities, with support from Citi Community Development and The Rockefeller Foundation, launched Cities Joining Ranks — Policy Networks on the Rise. This new report details the activities, visibility, value, and membership of city-to-city policy networks and provides the first evaluation of city peer... More
Faculty Friday – Ruth Paris
Faculty Friday highlights a Boston University faculty member by exploring their work at Boston University and their thoughts on cities. This week, we’re speaking with Ruth Paris. Paris serves as an Associate Professor and Chair of Clinical Practice in the School of Social Work. Her research focuses on early care programs... More
IOC Intern Accepts CityLab Fellowship
The Initiative on Cities is delighted to congratulate Claire Tran, our Marketing and Communications Intern, on her new job. She’ll be starting a year-long fellowship at CityLab, a sister site for The Atlantic which focuses on urban life and policy. As a fellow, Claire will be researching, reporting, and writing... More
Event Recap – David Lammy
On March 20th, David Lammy, the Labour Member of Parliament for Tottenham in London, England, visited the Initiative on Cities to discuss issues within his constituency, the impact of Brexit, and the goals of the Labour Party. Amongst the Brexit debates, Lammy tweeted out a short but powerful quote from Shakespeare’s... More
Tulane Professor Mirya Holman Shares Her Research
On Wednesday, April 21, 2018 Tulane University Associate Professor of Political Science, Mirya Holman, joined the Initiative on Cities to share research from her recently published book, Women in Politics in the American City, which explores the influence of gender on urban leadership in the United States. Women in Politics... More
Executive Director Katharine Lusk Leads Panel at SXSW
Initiative on Cities Executive Director Katharine Lusk led a panel at SXSW earlier this month focused on mayors' initiatives to advance racial equity in their cities. The panel, America’s Mayors: Fighting for Racial Equity, featured Initiative partners Leon Andrews, the Director of the Race, Equity And Leadership (REAL) at the... More
Faculty Friday – Jessica Simes
Faculty Friday highlights a Boston University faculty member by exploring their work at Boston University and their thoughts on cities. This week, we're speaking with Jessica Simes. Simes serves as an assistant professor of sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences. What research or project are you currently working on? Jessica Simes (JS): I would say the project... More
Initiative on Cities Director Returns from Leading Executive Education in China
Each year, the Initiative on Cities partners with the Boston University Questrom School of Business to host an executive education program that trains business leaders to think like cities. This six-month program focuses on navigating urban power and influence for a group of engineers, architects, and designers from the renowned... More
Event Recap: Bruce Katz and “The New Localism”
On February 28th, Bruce Katz, former Centennial Scholar at the Brookings Institution, visited Boston University to discuss his new book “The New Localism: How Cities Can Thrive in the Age of Populism,” which offers a practical road map for cities to plan and fund the future. As the federal government “leaves... More