Urban Research Incubator
When: Thursday, February 12, 9 AM–11:30 AM Where: Rajen Kilachand Center, 610 Commonwealth Avenue, Colloquium Room, Boston, MA 02215 Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities for an Urban Research Incubator – an event showcasing cutting-edge, policy-relevant urban research at BU and sparking new cross-disciplinary collaborations around heat, health, and housing. This event will feature lightning […]
Event Recap: Urban Growth and Citizenship Machines
On Wednesday, October 15th, the Initiative on Cities hosted a panel, “Urban Growth and Citizenship Machines,” where Boston University’s Professor Daniel Abramson discussed his forthcoming book, Designing Citizens. The panel also included prominent urban enthusiasts Lauren Mattioli, Anne Gatling Haynes, and Billy Dean Thomas. The conversation focused on the urban renewal project in Boston’s Government Center […]
Event Recap: Designing and Using Transit Maps
On Monday, October 27, 2025, the Initiative on Cities and the Metropolitan College City Planning & Urban Affairs Program co-hosted a discussion exploring the design and implementation of transit maps. This session of Transportation & The City featured Ken Dumas, Manager of the Central Transportation Planning Staff at the Boston MPO, and Mark Ovenden, broadcaster, […]
Event Recap: Boston University City Hall Day
By Danielle Mulligan Photos by Ting Wei Li On December 3rd, the Initiative on Cities (IOC) hosted the inaugural BU City Hall Day, building on the success of three cohorts of the IOC’s Public Impact Scholars (PIS) program. The goal of this event was to build relationships between BU faculty and City Hall leaders to […]
Gentrification: Ideas to Action
When: Wednesday, February 4, 3:00 – 5:00 PM Where: Rajen Kilachand Center, 610 Commonwealth Avenue, Colloquium Room, Boston, MA 02215 Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities for the launch of the Gentrification & Urban Displacement Lab (GUDL) – a new hub bringing together faculty, students, practitioners, and community partners committed to understanding urban change, culture, […]
Advancing Climate Action in Small and Midsize Cities
When: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET Where: Virtual; Access recording here The Boston University Initiative on Cities hosted a webinar exploring how small and midsize cities are advancing climate action – and the creative strategies they are using to fund and implement it. The event will spotlight findings from a […]
Multiplied Displacements: The Climate-Housing Nexus Conference
Where: Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. When: January 15-17, 2026 Conference Co-Chairs: Karen Chapple (School of Cities, University of Toronto), Loretta Lees (Initiative on Cities, Boston University), and Jesse M. Keenan (Center on Climate Change and Urbanism, Tulane University) Conference Sponsors: Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Development Grant and Tulane […]
2025 Careers in Transportation Information Session
When: Tuesday, November 18, 2025, 4:00 – 5:30 PM Where: Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215 Join the Boston University Initiative on Cities and City Planning & Urban Affairs Program at Metropolitan College for our annual Careers in Transportation Information Session! This session provides a direct venue for students and aspiring […]
The Multilayered Geography of Scale in ‘The Pointillistic City’
When: November 3, 2025 | 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET Where: Initiative on Cities, 75 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215 Join the Boston University Department of Sociology and Initiative on Cities for a special session of the Urban Inequalities Workshop featuring Dr. Daniel T. O’Brien’s (Northeastern University) latest book, The Pointillistic City (MIT Press, […]
Urban Health in Africa
When: Thursday, November 6, 10:00 – 11:30 AM ET (Boston) Where: Virtual via Zoom Join us for a virtual discussion of Urban Health in Africa, co-edited by Boston University Associate Professor of Global Health, Elaine Nsoesie. The event will feature contributing authors highlighting case studies from the volume and a panel conversation on Africa’s rapid […]