Katharine Lusk Named Executive Director of the Planning Advisory Council

Mayor Michelle Wu today announced Katharine Lusk as the inaugural Executive Director of the Planning Advisory Council, which was created by an Executive Order signed by Mayor Wu in January and will establish a coordinated Citywide vision for Boston’s future and create accountability for delivering on that vision. The council will be composed of Cabinet officials, including those overseeing housing, parks, equity and inclusion, arts, and transportation, to ensure that long-range City planning includes those perspectives. Lusk began working in her role on May 1, 2023.

Building a Better Boston: Behind the scenes at Boston City Hall, BU PhD candidates are solving problems small and big

If you walk through Boston City Hall, chances are you’ll bump into someone from BU working on the front lines, building a city that works for all. In recent years, several PhD candidates from BU have accepted fellowships or internships with the City of Boston, forming a brain trust and working on many of the city’s most ambitious initiatives. Some come from disciplines not traditionally thought of as feeders for public service—like history and sociology—but end up contributing in significant ways, many times picking up a love for municipal government that sticks. And many of those students arrive at City Hall via BU’s Initiative on Cities (IOC).

People on the Move in Boston: Loretta Lees | New Hire

Loretta Lees is an urban geographer and urbanist who is internationally known for her research on gentrification, urban regeneration, global urbanism, urban policy, urban public space, architecture, and urban social theory. Before moving to Boston University to serve as Faculty Director of the Initiative on Cities, she was professor of Human Geography at Leicester University and before that King’s College London in the UK.

For New Initiative on Cities Leader, Urban Geography Is People

“Urban geography” may sound like it’s all about streets and parks and tall buildings. But for Loretta Lees, the new faculty director of Boston University’s Initiative on Cities (IoC), it means gentrification and homelessness, climate change and commuting, the way the built environment and the politics that shape it affect the lives of residents.