Join our team! Seeking a full-time Program Manager & Administrator
Have a passion for urban issues? Looking to join a dynamic team that catalyzes research on, in, and with cities? Apply to be our Program Manager & Administrator! We are looking for a talented candidate to coordinate and execute core IOC programs that support the BU faculty and student community and raise the profile of […]
Neighborhood Defenders: Participatory Politics and America’s Housing Crisis
Since the collapse of the housing market in 2008, demand for housing has consistently outpaced supply in many US communities. The failure to construct sufficient housing – especially affordable housing – in desirable communities and neighborhoods comes with significant social, economic, and environmental costs. This book examines how local participatory land use institutions amplify the power of entrenched interests and privileged homeowners. The book draws on sweeping data to examine the dominance of land use politics by ‘neighborhood defenders’ – individuals who oppose new housing projects far more strongly than their broader communities and who are likely to be privileged on a variety of dimensions. Neighborhood defenders participate disproportionately and take advantage of land use regulations to restrict the construction of multifamily housing. The result is diminished housing stock and higher housing costs, with participatory institutions perversely reproducing inequality.
Rip Off or Reasonable? Cities & Corporate Financial Incentives
Businesses are potentially more mobile today than ever before and have a wide range of options on where to locate. Cities and state try hard to attract investment; as in the competition for Amazon’s HQ2, they often promise significant sums in tax rebates, subsidies and services. On Friday, October 18th, the Initiative on Cities held a […]
Faculty Friday: Stephanie Curenton
Stephanie Curenton, Ph.D. is a tenured associate professor in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development and the Director of the Ecology of School Readiness Lab. She studies the social, cognitive, and language development of low-income and minority children within various ecological contexts, such as parent-child interactions, early childhood education programs, early childhood […]
Keeping A Good Thing Going: Sustaining Economic Growth in Our Cities
Keeping A Good Thing Going: Sustaining Economic Growth in Our Cities By: Carly Berke On Wednesday, October 2nd, the Initiative on Cities welcomed Alan Harding, the Chief Economic Adviser to the Mayor of Metropolitan Manchester, and Midori Morikawa, Director of Business Strategy for the City of Boston, to discuss sustaining economic growth in cities and […]
Women’s Political Empowerment A Century After the 19th Amendment: Reflections by Women Mayors
By: Carly Berke The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified exactly 100 years ago, is one of the most important victories in the history of women’s rights, given it confirmed that “the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” One […]
New! Working Paper Series & Faculty Affiliate Program
The Initiative on Cities is pleased to announce two new opportunities for the BU community launching this Fall 2019: IOC Working Paper Series To help publicize and promote academic research on cities or urban populations, the Initiative is launching a Working Paper Series. This online repository of papers will help increase the visibility of academic […]
Professor Tony Janetos, 1954-2019
It is with great sorrow that we learned that Professor Tony Janetos passed away on August 6th after battling pancreatic cancer. Tony has given extraordinary service to the University in his leadership of the Pardee Center, the Department of Earth and Environment, and BU’s Climate Action Plan. His impact on the University will endure for […]
Speaker John Bercow Visits BU Initiative on Cities
On May 29, 2019, the Boston University Initiative on Cities was honored to welcome the Speaker of the UK House of Commons, John Bercow, as part of a series of visits by major public figures. Students from IOC Director Professor Graham Wilson’s British Politics class and members of the BU faculty representing the College of […]
A Conversation about Cities and Health
On Tuesday June 4th, IOC Co-Director Katharine Lusk spoke on a panel co-hosted by the Boston University School of Public Health, Initiative on Cities, AcademyHealth, and de Beaumont Foundation. Hosted by Sandro Galea, Dean of the School of Public Health, and moderated by Lisa Simpson, the President and CEO of AcademyHealth, the panel “A Conversation […]