Apply to be the 2024–2025 IOC Menino Fellow with the National League of Cities!
Applications for the Initiative on Cities (IOC) 2024–2025 Menino Fellowship with the National League of Cities (NLC) are now open and due May 19, 2024. The Menino Fellowship provides one Boston University undergraduate student with the opportunity to explore an interest in public service, city-level programs and policies, and municipal leadership... More
2023 Menino Survey of Mayors: Mayoral Accountability and Control Report
Elected officials often grapple with the gap between the policy issues within their control and those for which their constituencies hold them accountable. For example, at the national level, voters use the national economy’s performance as a critical indicator in choosing whether or not to re-elect a President (or a... More
Event Recap: Exploring Data & Cities
Recap by Vijay Fisch The event's takeaways and insights were first published on the Boston University Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences website. Photos taken by Isabella Boncser. On Friday, March 22nd, the Initiative on Cities (IOC) partnered with BU SPARK! an innovation and experiential learning lab, and the Faculty of Computing... More
#BUandBoston: Interview with Man Nguyen on Translating and Adapting the USDA’s Household Food Security Survey Module for Vietnamese Residents in Boston
This post is part of our #BUandBoston series, highlighting the work and research of BU students, faculty, and staff throughout the City of Boston and the Greater Boston region. Interested in having your Boston-related work featured? Tag us on Instagram or Twitter (@BUonCities) using the #BUandBoston or send us an email at ioc@bu.edu. By Julia Kapusta Man... More
The Nocturnal City
When: April 8, 2024 | 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET Where: Initiative on Cities Seminar Room, 75 Bay State Road Join us for a discussion on the relationship between the city and nocturnal spaces, exploring cultural and social experiences in urban night contexts. The event will feature Derek Pardue, Associate Professor of Aarhus University, Denmark, More
New Brief: Political Lessons Learned from the Initial MBTA Communities Act Rollout
In partnership with the Initiative on Cities' MetroBridge program and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Urban-H Associate Director Katherine Levine Einstein and students enrolled in the Inequality in American Politics (CAS PO 519) course during the Fall 2023 semester recently published their findings concerning the implementation of the 2021 MBTA... More
2023 Menino Survey: Building for a Green Future: Cities and the IRA
Key Obstacles Prevent America's Mayors from Tapping into the IRA's Potential, According to Survey of US Mayors Mayors Cite Staff Capacity, Local Permitting Processes, and Lack of Public Knowledge as Challenges to Navigate IRA Grants Findings Among Those from the Boston University Initiative on Cities’ Menino Survey of Mayors The Inflation Reduction Act... More
Exploring Data & Cities
Where: BU Center for Computing & Data Sciences, Second Floor SPARK! Space, 665 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215 When: Friday, March 22, 2024, 5:00-6:30 PM EST As complex data analysis techniques become more salient in government, there is enormous potential for quantitative analysis to improve public policy outcomes. Data tools are essential... More
IOC Faculty Featured on Award Winning Urban Policy Podcast
Three IOC faculty members have been featured on the Dense City Podcast, a 2021 American Planning Association Transportation Planning Division Small grant award winner! Co-hosted by Dr. Rebecca Mayers and Isaac Keast, episode 33 featured Professors Katherine Levine Einstein, David Glick, and Maxwell Palmer. Professor Einstein is an Associate Professor of... More
An Pham: Reflecting on my 2022–2023 NLC Menino Fellowship
I had a fantastic experience being the 2022–2023 National League of Cities Menino Fellow. I went in with a summer’s experience from another IOC Fellowship, half of an economics degree, and scattered convictions about cities. I’m leaving as a staunch urbanist after exploring those convictions and finding names for the... More
New Publication: “Municipal finance shapes urban climate action and justice”
2022 Early Stage Urban Research award recipient Claudia V. Diezmartínez recently authored a publication in Nature Climate Change alongside Co-PI Anne G. Short Gianotti. Their research focuses on municipal finance and urban climate action. Read the full abstract here: "Implementing climate policies and programmes in cities requires substantial investments that inevitably entangle... More
Two IOC Affiliates Receive Urban Affairs Association Awards
Two Initiative on Cities affiliates will receive awards from the Urban Affairs Association (UAA). IOC Postdoctoral Research Associate Dr. Kenton Card and Derek Hyra of the IOC External Advisory Board have been recognized for their achievements in urban research and activism. Dr. Card is a filmmaker, teacher, and Postdoctoral Research Associate... More
Zoning for Change: Insights from the MBTA Communities Act Implementation
When: March 4, 2024 | 3 PM - 5 PM ET Where: Kenmore Room, 9th Floor, 1 Silber Way, Boston MA, 02215 In response to the region's escalating housing crisis, Massachusetts passed the MBTA Communities Act in 2021. The law faced its first significant test in 2023 as rapid transit communities worked... More
IOC Seed Funding to Study Classroom Air Quality Featured on BU SPH
Patricia Fabian, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Health and Associate Director at the Institute for Global Sustainability, was recently featured in a BU SPH article highlighting her work on air quality in Boston Public School (BPS) classrooms. During her 2022-2023 sabbatical, Professor Fabian created a research partnership with... More
National League of Cities Menino Fellowship Showcase & Info Session
When: February 21, 2024 | 12 PM - 1 PM ET Where: Initiative on Cities Seminar Room, 75 Bay State Road Lunch will be provided Join us for a featured presentation by An Pham (CAS ‘24), our 2022-2023 National League of Cities (NLC) Menino Fellow. He will present his NLC research on how... More
Call for Papers: Rethinking the Media-Gentrification Nexus
Workshop & Special Issue This Call for Papers (CFP) encourages contributions that rethink the interface between gentrification, displacement, and the proliferation of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media practices. We hope to draw an inter- or trans-disciplinary set of contributions from sociology, geography, political science, media studies, gender and sexualities studies, Black studies, More
Initiative on Cities 10-Year Celebration
Date: Monday, April 1, 2024 Time: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Location: Center for Computing & Data Sciences, 17th Floor, 665 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215 Please RSVP for the Event We’re turning 10! The Initiative on Cities cordially invites you to celebrate this milestone with us. This special occasion marks a decade of... More
Encouraging and Implementing Transit-Oriented Development
Where: Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road When: Tuesday, February 20, 2024, 4:00 - 5:30 PM ET Development connected to smart transportation options is key to meeting many of our most critical urban goals, such as reduced car dependency, better public health, more efficient land use, and reduced congestion. While there... More
2023 Menino Survey of Mayors Release Event
Date & Time: Thursday, March 7, 12:00-1:30 pm ET Location: The Rockefeller Foundation, 420 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10018 [Please use the main entrance located directly on Fifth Avenue] Lunch will be provided Registration Required Attend an exclusive briefing on the 2023 Menino Survey of Mayors, the 10th year of this annual project led... More
#BUandBoston: Art for the Heart
This post is part of our #BUandBoston series, highlighting the work and research of BU students, faculty, and staff throughout the City of Boston and the Greater Boston region. Interested in having your Boston-related work featured? Tag us on Instagram or Twitter (@BUonCities) using the #BUandBoston or send us an... More