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 percent of total […]
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 and identify energy-efficient […]
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 refugee settlement as […]
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, Little and Adamkiewicz […]
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 understand how […]
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 to determine if […]
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 Policy recommendations that have […]
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 encouraged. Successful proposals will […]
IOC Urban Seminar: Cities and the Opioid Crisis
The IOC kicked off the Spring Urban Seminar Series this past Tuesday with a panel discussion on the growing opioid epidemic in cities, particularly in Massachusetts. Despite an increased public focus on addiction prevention, treatment and recovery, the number of victims and affected persons remains high and continues to climb. What progress, if any, has […]
Boston Public Schools’ Reassignment Plan
February 4th’s panel discussion brought together members of the Boston Pubic Schools (BPS) and Boston University communities to discuss the newest BPS Assignment Plan that was rolled out in 2014. This new plan reorganized Boston schools into tiers and normalized the distribution of “quality” schools across all tiers. It is still based on a lottery […]