Fiscal Leadership and the Modern City
One of the greatest modern threats facing cities lies on the balance sheet, leaving many wondering: how will we pay for cities in the future? Fiscal Leadership and the Modern City, the third city leadership summit hosted by the Initiative on Cities at Boston University, will examine how communities are tackling contemporary financial constraints with […]
Urban Seminar: The Cultural City
Cultural images of Boston range from its venerable arts and music institutions to the seamy underworld portrayed in the film The Departed. As in many cities, these polar extremes mask a rich spectrum of urban cultures. Featuring, from left to right, Rebecca Ostriker (Arts Editor, The Boston Globe), Associate Professor Charles Merzbacher (Film, College of […]
2015 IOC City of Boston Summer Fellow Announced
The Initiative on Cities is proud to announce that Molly Lawrence (SPH, ’15) has been selected as the 2015 City of Boston Summer Fellow. A Masters in Public Health candidate concentrating in Social and Behavioral Health Sciences at Boston University’s School of Public Health, Molly will work with Mayor Martin Walsh’s Office of New Urban […]
Teaching the City
The Initiative on Cities is excited to host Teaching the City as part of its Urban Seminar Series. This conversation with BU faculty and experts will focus on engaging students with Boston. Urban universities experience all of the benefits and many of the challenges of cities. Teaching about the city seems to be a critical […]
Urban Seminar Series: Policing the City
The Initiative on Cities is excited to host the next edition of our Urban Seminar Series, Policing the City: a conversation on race, municipal leadership and public safety moderated by BU Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore on Monday, February 23rd, from 2:30 pm -4:00 pm at the Florence & Chafetz Hillel House, 213 Bay State […]
National Survey of Mayors: Research Spotlight
What are the most significant obstacles facing 21st-century mayors? Which policy areas do mayors care most deeply about? With federal support diminishing as urban populations steadily rise, how can mayors lead their cities toward a more stable and sustainable future? In a first-of-its-kind National Survey of Mayors, the Initiative on Cities examined how America’s most […]
IOC Urban Seminar: The Inclusive City
On Thursday, December 4, 2014, Boston University students, faculty, and area practitioners gathered for The Inclusive City, the third edition of the Initiative on Cities’ Urban Seminar Series. Coming on the heels of widespread public unrest over the Eric Garner case in New York City and the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Missouri, the Seminar’s […]
Looking Back – A Quick Overview of Sea Level Rise and the Future of Coastal Cities
From November 13-14, 2014, the Initiative on Cities and the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future co-hosted Sea Level Rise and the Future of Coastal Cities, a two-day City Leadership Summit at Boston University. Over 200 attendees participated in a conversation about the impact of climate change, particularly rising sea […]
Initiative on Cities Releases First National Survey of Mayoral Priorities
In October 2014, the Initiative on Cities released a ground-breaking survey of American Mayors, which has since been dedicated to the annual Menino Survey of Mayors. Based on interviews with over seventy mayors from cities with over 1 million to those with as few as 50,000 residents, it offers the first-ever nationally representative review of […]
Co-Director Thomas Menino Honored by American Bar Association
On Friday, August 8, 2014, Initiative on Cities (IOC) Co-Director Thomas Menino was honored by the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of State and Local Government Law and presented with the Jefferson Fordham Award for Advocacy. In Boston for the 2014 ABA Annual Meeting, the Section of State and Local Government Law hosted an awards […]