2020–2021 NLC Menino Fellowship Applications Due August 23
The Initiative on Cities (IOC) is now accepting applications for the 2020–2021 NLC Menino Fellowship! This two semester fellowship provides one BU undergraduate student with the opportunity to explore an interest in public service, city-level programs and policies, and municipal leadership on behalf of children, youth, and families through a... More
Black Boston: Building Healthy Communities
On July 30, 2020, the Boston University Initiative on Cities, Boston University Diversity & Inclusion, and WBUR CitySpace held Black Boston: Building Healthy Communities, the first in a recurring discussion series featuring transformative Black leaders from across Greater Boston. Boston is home to some of the country’s leading community health centers... More
Luisa Godinez Puig publishes Perceptions of Public Health Priorities and Accountability among U.S. Mayors in Public Health Reports
Congratulations to Luisa Godinez Puig, a 2019 IOC Doctoral Research Fellow at the IOC, for her peer-reviewed work on "Perceptions of Public Health Priorities and Accountability among U.S. Mayors." Co-authors on the report include IOC Co-Director Katharine Lusk, David Glick, Katherine Einstein, Maxwell Palmer, IOC Associate Director Stacy Fox, and Monica Wang. Learn... More
Confronting Systemic Racism: Policing, Mass Incarceration, and Black Lives Matter
On June 23, 2020 the Initiative on Cities (IOC) hosted Confronting Systemic Racism: Policing, Mass Incarceration, and Black Lives Matter. Kimberly Atkins, Senior News Correspondent for WBUR and MSNBC contributor, facilitated an in-depth discussion with BU experts: Paula Austin, Assistant Professor of History & African American Studies, BU College of Arts &... More
Opportunity Zones: How Are They Working for Cities?
On June 10, 2020, the Initiative on Cities (IOC) hosted an online briefing to share new research and perspectives on how the federal Opportunity Zones policy is working for cities, including how it can be used as a tool for COVID-19 economic recovery. The webinar featured findings from the IOC's... More
COVID-19 & Cities: Multilingual Learners & Families
On Wednesday, May 20, 2020, the Initiative on Cities (IOC) and Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development hosted a webinar to discuss the challenges of remote learning on multilingual learners and their families, and what's being done to support them. Christine Leider, Clinical Assistant Professor Language Education &... More
2020 COVID-19 Urban Research to Action Award: The “Aging Disaster” of COVID19: The Association of Social Isolation and Loneliness to Perceived Health, Psychological Wellbeing, and Material Hardship Among Boston Residents Age 60 and Older
PI: Judith G. Gonyea, PhD, MPH, Professor, BU School of Social Work (BUSSW) Co-PI: Arden O’ Donnell, PhD Student, BUSSW This project, in collaboration with the City of Boston’s Age Strong Commission, explores the experiences of Boston residents age 60 and older during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given their... More
2020 COVID-19 Urban Research-to-Action Award: Race, Place, and Policing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-City Study
PI: Jessica T. Simes, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, BU College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) Co-PI: Jaquelyn L. Jahn, PhD, Visiting Scholar, Department of Sociology, BU CAS and PhD candidate, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Low-level policing—which includes enforcement and arrests based... More
2020 COVID-19 Urban Research-to-Action Award: How Are Cities Responding to the COVID-19 Housing Crisis?
PI: Katherine Levine Einstein, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, BU College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) Co-PI: Maxwell Palmer, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Sciences, CAS Many cities have responded to the housing crisis caused by COVID-19 with various protections and programs, ranging from financial relief funds for housing... More
2020 COVID-19 Urban Research-to-Action Award: From the Pediatric Frontlines: Basic Needs, Access to COVID19 Supports & Equity Among Families with Young Children in the Boston Area
PI: Megan Sandel, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, BU School of Medicine (BUSM), Boston Medical Center (BMC), and Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health, BU School of Public Health (SPH) Co-PI: Deborah A. Frank, MD, Professor in Child Health and Well-Being, Department of Pediatrics, BUSM, BMC, and Assistant Professor, More
2020 COVID-19 Urban Research-to-Action Award: Assessing City Health Care Workers’ SARS-CoV2 Transmission to Families
PI: Diana Ceballos, PhD, MS, CIH, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health, BU School of Public Health (SPH) Co-PIs: Jessica Leibler, DrPH, ScM, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health, SPH; and Jennifer Greif Green, PhD, MA, Associate Professor, Special Education Program, Wheelock College of Education & Human Development Co-Is: Jonathan Levy, ScD, More
COVID-19 Research to Action Seed Grant Awards
The Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) is proud to announce the recipients of its COVID-19 Urban Research-to-Action call for proposals. Five faculty-led teams will receive seed grant awards to help catalyze new research focused on understanding and addressing the disproportionate impacts the COVID-19 pandemic is having on marginalized urban... More
MetroBridge Announces Menu of Project Options for Local Governments and Community Organizations
Despite the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, we know that the financial and operational impacts on local governments and community organizations will be severe. In acknowledgement of these difficult times ahead, the Initiative on Cities wants to make you aware of the ways the MetroBridge program can help you fill capacity gaps and continue to move projects... More
Racial Justice in Cities – IOC Statement
Cities exist to bring people together. As we have learned during these last few months, a city devoid of people is not a city at all. But it is not enough that we inhabit the same space. Everyone has the right to live in and move through our cities, to... More
2020 Early Stage Urban Research Awards
In Spring 2020, the Initiative on Cities issued its sixth request for proposals to support early stage academic research endeavors focused on urban challenges and urban populations, both domestic and global. We received 27 applications from 16 schools and departments at BU, and and we are thrilled to announce we... More
Assessing the association between combined sewer overflow events and gastrointestinal illness in the Merrimack Valley
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: Collaborator: In combined sewer systems—which exist in more than 800 cities in the United States—household sewage, stormwater, and industrial waste are collected in a common pipe that flows to a wastewater treatment facility. Combined sewer overflow (CSO) events occur during periods of peak stormwater runoff when the system becomes... More
Mixed-methods Study of Female Homeownership in U.S. Cities
Principal Invrestigator: Co-Principal Investigator Despite lower wages, single women buy more houses than single men, and rates of single male and female homeownership vary substantially across U.S. cities. The origins, history, or varying rates have yet to be studied, and the consequences of gendered homeownership patterns, for homeowners and cities, still need... More
The Effects of Social Housing on Neighborhoods: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Copenhagen
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Collaborator: Providing affordable social housing for socially and economically disadvantaged households is crucial for sustainable and equitable city management. However, little is known about the impacts of social housing for disadvantaged households on urban neighborhoods. Our project studies this question using a research design that takes advantage of a... More
The Politics of Rent: Power & Inequality in Low-Income Neighborhoods
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Landlords in low-income urban areas hold immense economic and political power relative to their tenant populations. Depending on their motivations, resources, and ability, landlords can be harbingers of a neighborhood’s bright or bleak future. This project uses “big data” to better understand the landlords operating in low-income neighborhoods in... More
Cities and Alternative Spaces of Memory: Monuments and Counter-Monuments in New Orleans
Principal Investigator Despite public outcry from some quarters, the New Orleans City Council voted to remove four monuments to the Confederacy in 2015. Cynthia Becker's project, "Cities and Alternative Spaces of Memory: Monuments and Counter-Monuments in New Orleans," uses the current debate around Confederate monuments as a springboard to consider the... More