The Last Breath of Sam Yan Film Screening & Discussion
Date & Time: Wednesday, October 23, 2024, 4:00-6:00pm ET Film Screening: Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities, the Center for the Study of Asia, and the Department of Anthropology for a featured screening of The Last Breath of Sam Yan. This documentary captures the efforts of residents... More
Initiative on Cities Releases 2024 Annual Report
The Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) is proud to release its 2024 Annual Report — marking 10 years since our founding and commitment to the betterment of cities. The achievements over the past year underscore our center’s dedication to serving as an interdisciplinary hub for urbanists, bridging research and practice, More
New Publication: “Operationalizing climate justice in the implementation of Boston’s Building Performance Standard”
Dr. Claudia Diezmartínez, Professor Benjamin Sovacool, and Associate Professor Anne Short Gianotti have published a new paper on Nature Cities that analyzes the politics and processes of implementing climate justice plans in urban governments. Read the full abstract here: "Cities are moving toward the implementation of more just urban climate actions, More
Policy Brief: The Role of Sanitation and Waste Management in Local Responses to Homelessness
Authors: Katherine Levine Einstein (Associate Professor of Political Science, Boston University), Charley E. Willison (Assistant Professor of Public and Ecosystem Health, Cornell University) In this brief, the Boston University Initiative on Cities, Cornell University, and Community Solutions investigate the involvement of sanitation agencies in response to homelessness in cities across the country. Unsheltered homelessness is highly... More
Allston Multimodal Project and Reknitting the Allston Community
Where: Eichenbaum Colloquium Room, 610 Commonwealth Ave, First Floor When: Wednesday, October 2, 2024, 4:00 – 5:30 PM ET Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities and the City Planning & Urban Affairs Program for a special discussion on the mega project realigning the Massachusetts Turnpike/I-90. The project will open up land... More
The Two Faces of Fear: Violence and Inequality in the Mexican Metropolis Book Talk & Discussion
Date & Time: Wednesday, September 18, 2024, 4:00-6:00 PM ET (Talk: 4-5:15 PM; Reception: 5:15-6 PM) Location: Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities, Center for Latin American Studies, and Department of Sociology to discuss Assistant Professor of Sociology Ana Villarreal's newly published book on the... More
Director Loretta Lees Wins International Planning History Society (IPHS) Book Prize
Initiative on Cities Director Loretta Lees and co-author Elanor Warwick received the biennial International Planning History Society's (IPHS) First Book Prize for their book Defensible Space on the Move: Mobilisation in English Housing Policy and Practice. The First Book Prize recognizes innovative planning history books based on original research. Defensible Space... More
Call for Papers for the 2025 International Conference on Urban Affairs – Triangulating the Urban-H (Housing, Heat, Health) in Cities Session
When: April 15-19, 2025 Where: Sheraton Vancouver Wall Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Organizers: Loretta Lees, Professor of Sociology, and Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, Research Associate Professor of Health Law, Policy and Management, Initiative on Cities, Boston University If interested in being a part of this session, please email your name, institution, paper... More
Spring 2024 Event Recap
This past semester, the Initiative on Cities invited urban researchers, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary academics, policymakers, practitioners, and students to share their insights on various topics and issues in cities. Spring 2024 marks a decade since the Initiative on Cities was founded, and we look forward to adding more events and... More
Meet Amie Thomas, 2024 Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics Fellow
The Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) is happy to announce Amie Thomas (GRS Statistical Practice) has been selected as this year's City of Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics (MONUM) Fellow. This fellow will have the opportunity to explore an interest in public service and civic innovation while positively... More
Meet Roshan Sivaraman, 2024 Climate Ready Boston Intern
The Boston University Initiative on Cities is happy to announce that Roshan Sivaraman (CFA, Pardee ’26) has been selected for the summer internship working with the Climate Ready Boston team on bus shelter pilot projects to advance heat and stormwater resilience. The projects aim to provide cooling or green infrastructure enhancements to bus... More
Meet Alexandria McKenzie, 2024 City of Boston’s Equity & Inclusion Cabinet Summer Intern
The Boston University Initiative on Cities and the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground are happy to announce that Alexandria McKenzie (CAS ’26) has been selected as this year’s summer intern with the City of Boston’s Equity & Inclusion Cabinet. Alexandria will work directly with the Senior Advisor on Racial Justice, Ms. More
Workshop: Rethinking the Media-Gentrification Nexus
Where: Zoom (Virtual) When: June 10 and July 2, 2024 9:00 am–4:30 pm US-EDT / 2:00 pm-9:30 pm UK-BST Register This workshop — open to the public — brings together over 30 scholars who will present their work on rethinking the interface between gentrification and the proliferation of ‘old’ and ‘new’ media practices. Papers draw... More
Housing and Neighborhood Determinants of Sleep and Mental Health in Low-Income Toddlers and their Parents
Principal Investigators: Co-Principal Investigators: The goal of this project is to understand the contributions of poverty-related disparities in neighborhood and housing to sleep and mental health problems in early childhood. We will leverage data from an ongoing randomized controlled trial, the Parent and Toddler Health (PATH) project, which focuses on low-income families... More
Introducing Our 2024 Early Stage Urban Research Award Recipients
The Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of our 10th request for proposals for the Early Stage Urban Research Awards. These seed grants support early-stage academic research endeavors focused on urban challenges and urban populations, both domestic and global. This year’s seed grant... More
Coping with Extreme Heat: Intersecting Vulnerabilities Related to Urban Heat Islands, Homelessness, and Serious Mental Illness
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Periods of extreme heat, which are increasing in frequency due to climate change, have been linked to adverse mental health outcomes, including symptoms related to schizophrenia, substance use, mood disorders, and suicide. At heightened risk for negative effects of extreme heat are individuals experiencing homelessness, who have higher... More
Building Resilience after Redlining: Understanding the Cumulative Impact of Heat Vulnerability Factors in Massachusetts
Principal Investigators: Co-Principal Investigators: Extreme heat is becoming more frequent and severe, with deleterious impacts on human health. Populations living in urban areas are at particularly high risk due to overlapping built environment, demographic, and individual-level factors. Decades of racial and economic residential segregation and disinvestment have produced “redlined” neighborhoods characterized by... More
#BUandBoston: Interview with Tyler Critz – Running the Boston Marathon Representing Back on My Feet 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 “It... More
Dan Li Publishes New Paper on Urban Heat and Will Become IOC’s New Urban-H Associate Director of Heat
Boston University Associate Professor of Earth & Environment Dan Li’s new publication, Persistent Urban Heat, with co-authors Linying Wang (Boston University), Weilin Liao (Sun Yat-sen University), Ting Sun (University College London), Gabriel Katul (Duke University), Elie Bou-Zeid (Princeton University), and Björn Maronga (Leibniz University Hannover), tackles the urban heat island... More
Alana Motley (CAS ’24) Awarded the 2024 Initiative on Cities Student Prize
The Initiative on Cities (IOC) is elated to announce that Alana Motley (CAS '24) has been awarded the IOC Student Prize for the 2024 school year. The $1,000 prize is presented annually to one BU senior graduating with a minor in Urban Studies. We asked Alana to introduce herself and describe... More