Gentrification: Good or Bad for the Urban Poor?

Join us on Friday, October 7, from 2:30-4:00pm at our office (75 Bay State Road) for a workshop lecture featuring Professor Jackelyn Hwang from Princeton University. Professor Hwang will share her forthcoming co-authored paper, Moving Down: Gentrification, Displacement, and Residential Destinations in Philadelphia, and talk about her current research with Lei Ding from the Federal […]

IOC Summer Fellow Yulan Sun Reflects on Work in City of Providence Innovation Department

Shiny Apps for Service and Youth Crime: My Summer in the Providence Department of Innovation This summer I worked as the Boston University Initiative on Cities Fellow for the City of Providence’s Department of Innovation. I completed many interesting projects during my Fellowship, including a 311 service request data analysis and predictive youth crime data […]

IOC Sponsors Open Access Research

In partnership with the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, the Initiative on Cities is excited to fund open-access research by Boston University Earth & Environment Professors Sucharita Gopal and Nathan Phillips. Professors Gopal and Phillips used a data-driven approach to define sustainability, resiliency, and metabolism metrics that will provide cities across […]

Professor Goldfarb Awarded Fullbright for IOC-Funded Project

Jillian Goldfarb, Research Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, recently received a Teaching/Research Fulbright Award for her project: “Global Insights into Sustainable Energy Engineering and Sustainable Solutions for Municipal Solid Waste Management.” Professor Goldfarb will complete her Fulbright appointment at the University of Trento, Italy in Spring 2017. At the University […]

Developing a Citywide Greenhouse Gas Inventory in Providence, RI

Principal Investigators This past spring, with a grant from the Initiative on Cities, Earth and Environment Associate Professor Lucy Hutyra and Postdoctoral Researcher Conor Gately completed a comprehensive inventory of greenhouse gas emissions for the City of Providence, Rhode Island. The City of Providence had approached the team as part of an initiative coming out […]

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 tactics in order to […]

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 growth and development, shed […]

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 adopting work authorization […]