Category: Research Awards

2020 Urban Research Award: Addressing the Workforce Needs of Youth in Urban Settings: A Study of Local Workforce Development Boards’ Inclusion of Youth Expertise

PI: Mary Collins, PhD, MA, Chair of Social Welfare Policy & Professor, School of Social Work Publications Workforce development for vulnerable youth: lessons from two national studies Mary Collins. BU Initiative on Cities. White Paper (2022) Summary This project will examine Local Workforce Development Boards (WDBs) in urban settings in regard to their inclusion of […]

2020 Urban Research Award: Effects of Greenspace Structure on Urban Tree Health and Human Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter: A Biogeochemical Analysis and Exposure Assessment

PI: Jenna Rindy, MS, PhD Student, Department of Biology, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and BU URBAN Program Co-PIs: Pamela Templer, PhD, Professor, Department of Biology, College of Arts & Sciences and Director of BU URBAN Program; Kevin Lane, PhD, MA, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health; and Lucy Hutyra, […]

2020 Urban Research Award: Urban Heat Exposure, Cooling Demand and Electricity Consumption under Future Climate Change: an Empirical Approach

PI: Yasmin Romitti, PhD student, Department of Earth and Environment, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and BU URBAN Program Co-PIs: Ian Sue Wing, PhD, MSc, Professor, Department of Earth and Environment, College of Arts & Sciences; Dan Li, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth and Environment, College of Arts & Sciences Can cities adapt […]

2019 Urban Research Award: Understanding Open-Air Drug Markets Configuration

PI: Andrea Beltran-Lizarazo, PhD Student; Department of Sociology This project will explore the development of open-air drug markets in Colombia, where actors in the drug trade exert territorial control over central areas within cities. Specifically, Andrea Beltran Lizarazo will study the case of San Bernardo, in downtown Bogota, to understand what mechanisms benefited drug trade […]

2019 Urban Research Award: Urban Policing and Racial Health Inequities

PI: Julia Raifman, ScD; Assistant Professor, Health Law, Policy & Management, School of Public Health Co-PI: Michael Ulrich, JD, MPH; Assistant Professor, Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights, Health Law, Policy & Management, School of Public Health Mentor: Michael Siegel, MD; Professor, Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health The United States is characterized by inequities that […]

2019 Early Stage Urban Research Award Recipients

In Spring 2019, the Initiative on Cities issued its fifth Request for Proposals to support early stage academic research endeavors focused on urban challenges and urban populations, both domestic and global. We received applications from 15 schools and departments at BU and we are thrilled to announce we have funded a total of 13 projects […]

2019 Urban Research Award: Constructing City Images through Local Media: An Intermedia Agenda-Setting Analysis of Big Media Data

PI: Lei Guo, Assistant Professor, Division of Emerging Media Studies, College of Communication Co-PI: Yiyan Zhang, PhD student; Division of Emerging Media Studies, College of Communication City marketing works as a foundation for local residents to understand and identify with municipal policies and is used to alter the perception of a city among outsiders to encourage […]

2019 Urban Research Award: The Impact of Tourism on Environmental Sound Levels in Urban and Park Environments

PI: Erica Walker, MSc, ScD; Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health Co-PI: Richard Primack, PhD; Professor, Department of Biology Sound pollution in urban areas can cause physical and mental health problems which disproportionately affect poor and underserved communities; it can reduce the cultural vitality of outdoor areas; and it can harm wildlife. The investigators […]

2019 Urban Research Award: Locked Out: Examining the Use of Urban Housing Admissions Policies to Systematically Exclude Poor Renters

PI: Megan Smith, MSW, PhD student; School of Social Work Co-PI: Thomas Byrne, PhD; Assistant Professor, School of Social Work The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidizes about 4.8 million households throughout the country. Motivated by previous research and practice with individuals facing barriers to affordable housing, the team of investigators will examine […]

2019 Urban Research Award: Congregations in Contested Space: Gentrification and Latinx Churches in East Boston

PI: Jonathan Calvillo, PhD; Assistant Professor, Sociology of Religion, School of Theology Boston, like many U.S. cities, is currently experiencing elevated levels of gentrification adversely affecting working class people of color. The manner in which churches are affected by gentrification is particularly important as churches often provide valuable resources within working class communities of color. […]