Informing Municipal Policies & Identifying Best Practices to Support Women Survivors of Homicide
Principal Investigators Boston University School of Social Work doctoral student Kendall Johnson and Assistant Professor Linda Sprague Martinez will conduct an in-depth analysis of the Women Survivors of Homicide Movement (WSOHM), aimed at informing the organization’s existing work. They will conduct a systematic analysis of WSOHM and its change strategy and... More
The Dynamic Advantages of Economic Diversity in Cities: Evidence from US History
Principal Investigator Department of Economics Assistant Professor Martin Fiszbein will examine eighty years of data on US cities to explore the correlation between urban economic diversity (the degree of variety in production activities) and medium and long-term economic performance. Fiszbein will establish conclusive evidence on the impact of economic diversity on... More
Refugee Livelihood and Work Permits in Urban Areas: The Case of Jordan
Principal Investigators Assistant Professor Noora Anwar Lori and Pardee Master's candidate Vicky Kelberer, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, will develop an impact assessment of work permits on the livelihoods of Syrian refugees living in Jordan. Jordan has recently taken a leadership position among refugee host countries by... More
Albedo and Its Impact on the Urban Heat Island Effect: Characterizing the Urban Surface and Its Heat Mitigation Potential Across a Transact of Cities
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator Earth and Environment Ph.D. candidate Andrew Trlica, under the advisement of Associate Professor and Founder of the Hutyra Research Lab Lucy Hutyra, seeks to study urban heat islands (UHI), identifying the linkages between urban land cover and surface temperature. Specifically, he will focus on the effect of albedo—the... More
Modelling the Effect of Energy-Efficient Housing Interventions on Indoor Environmental Health in Urban Multi-Family Populations
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator Environmental Public Health Ph.D. candidate Lindsay Underhill, under the direction of School of Public Health Associate Chair and Professor Jonathan Levy, will develop flexible building simulation prototypes that model the urban multi-family housing stock in Massachusetts. These simulation models will be used to examine seasonal indoor pollutant concentrations... More
Refugee Resettlement as an Urban Development Tool in Deindustrialized Cities: A Case of Pittsburgh, PA
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator Sociology Ph.D. candidate Jake Watson, under the advisement of Sociology Professor Julian Go, will examine the socioeconomic impact of refugee resettlement on local community and micro-economies through an in-depth case study of the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He seeks to identify evidence-based best practices for the use of... More
Dayton Police Chief On Public Safety, Immigration and Inclusion
A local law enforcement expert at the intersection of public safety and working with immigrant communities, Richard Biehl serves as Chief of Police for the City of Dayton, Ohio. IOC Director Graham Wilson recently spoke with Chief Biehl about how he balances his duties with efforts to build an inclusive, More
Assessment of Urban Indoor Air Quality, Environmental Conditions and Occupancy Using a New Low-Cost Wireless Sensor
Principal Investigator Research Assistant Professor Patricia Fabian and Professor Thomas Little, both of Boston University, and Harvard Assistant Professor Gary Adamkiewicz seek to build and test a compact low-cost indoor air quality and occupancy sensing device (Urban Indoor Air Monitor, or iAM) in an ongoing housing field study in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Fabian, More
From “Street Car Suburb” to “Student Ghetto”: Allston and Urban Change
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator Sociology Ph.D. candidate Sarah Hosman, under the advisement of Professor of Sociology Japonica Brown-Saracino, will examine the urban identity of the Boston neighborhood of Allston. Rather than following typical patterns of gentrification of disinvestment, Allston has instead fluctuated between decline and ascent as Boston’s “student ghetto”. Hosman seeks to... More
Promoting Academic Success in Urban Head Start Children: A Pilot Study to Enhance Cognitive Control Through Metacognitive Monitoring
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator Assistant Professor Amanda Tarullo from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Assistant Professor Kathleen Corriveau from the School of Education, and Associate Professor and Director of the Family Certificate Program Ruth Paris from the School of Social Work will conduct a study of urban preschool children in Boston... More
Gentrification Debates Revisited: Lessons from 30 Years of Sociological Research
Principal Investigator Associate Professor Japonica Brown-Saracino will examine thirty years of extant gentrification scholarship to identify definitional differences, research trends and knowledge gaps. She will address several key themes including: Core features of sociological approaches to gentrification, including examinations of racial, residential, commercial and educational impacts Gentrification’s origins, dynamics and consequences ... More
2016 IOC Summer Fellows Set to Begin
This summer, we're proud to fund two IOC Summer Fellows: one in the City of Boston's Mayor's Office of New Urban Mechanics, and another in the City of Providence's Mayor's Innovation Department. Find out more about our two outstanding fellows below! Dan Lesser – City of Boston Fellow Dan Lesser, an MBA... More
Karl Dean Completes Term as Mayor-In-Residence
Karl Dean, the former Mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, completed his term as the first Initiative on Cities Mayor-in-Residence in May 2016. As Mayor-In-Residence, Mayor Dean spent the 2016 spring semester as a member of the IOC team on the Boston University campus, helping... More
Sana Johnson Completes First NLC Menino Fellowship
With the conclusion of the 2016 spring semester, Boston University student Sana Johnson (class of 2017) completed her term as the inaugural National League of Cities (NLC) Menino Fellow. Through this Fellowship, Johnson spent the 2015 fall semester paired with IOC Director Graham Wilson in an on-campus Directed Study program... More
Fiscal Leadership Summit Comprehensive Report
In the spring of 2015, Fiscal Leadership and the Modern City, the Initiative on Cities' third City Leadership Summit, convened Mayors, CFOs, public officials, fiscal watchdogs, academics, and members of the private sector for a two-day discussion focused on a critical question: how we will pay for the cities of... More
Apr 13th Panel Discussion: Creative Placemaking in Cities
As cities grow, adapt, and develop, some struggle to promote a vibrant arts and cultural community. How can urban leaders embrace the arts and use them to benefit the city as a whole? What is the value of urban "placemaking?" Join us Wednesday, April 13th, from 4:00-5:30pm at the Katzenberg... More
UK Cities: Coffee and Conversation with Liverpool’s Chief of Staff
England is undergoing a significant political shift at the municipal level. The creation of metro city governments is ushering in the first wave of directly elected mayors, including Mayor Joe Anderson of Liverpool. This fundamental change in the way cities operate is reviving the importance of local government and changing... More
IOC Mayor-in-Residence Karl Dean to speak at Boston Society of Architects
Join the Initiative on Cities and the Boston Society of Architects (BSA) for an evening discussion with former Mayor of Nashville Karl Dean, currently serving as the IOC's first Mayor in Residence. This event will take place on Tuesday, March 29th, from 6pm-8pm at the BSA Space, 290 Congress Street, More
IOC Urban Seminar: Sharing Visions, Shaping Cities
The City of Boston recently kicked off Imagine Boston 2030, a community-focused comprehensive planning process that will lay out a vision for the city's future. What will the plan ultimately look like? Do city plans work? How can we help create a great city for the next generation? Join us... More
IOC Releases Spring 2016 Request for Proposals
Request for Proposals The Initiative on Cities (IOC) is pleased to announce its Spring 2016 RFP for our Early Stage Urban Research Awards. These seed grants support research addressing urban challenges and urban populations in the U.S. and abroad. The Awards are open to all Boston University Schools, and interdisciplinary collaboration is... More