Cities and Alternative Spaces of Memory: Monuments and Counter-Monuments in New Orleans
Principal Investigator Despite public outcry from some quarters, the New Orleans City Council voted to remove four monuments to the Confederacy in 2015. Cynthia Becker’s project, “Cities and Alternative Spaces of Memory: Monuments and Counter-Monuments in New Orleans,” uses the current debate around Confederate monuments as a springboard to consider the role counter-monuments play in […]
Socio-Spatial Politics of Risk Mitigation: Building-Scale Urban Transformation Maps of Istanbul, Turkey
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator In an era of ever growing global cities facing climate and environmental hazards, financial crises and pandemics, risk calculation and anticipation became main organizing principles of contemporary cities. In dialogue with the literature on socio-spatial politics of risk, Ladin’s research examines the ways in which risk calculation and mitigation efforts shape […]
The Effects of Civil Service Reform on Local Government: Evidence from the Progressive Era
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator: As populations grew throughout the early 1900s, questions of city governance grew in importance and complexity. How were the cities of the early twentieth century managed and governed? Early in the 19th century, traditional patronage systems reigned and were seen as an important tool for voter mobilization. However, by 1920, over […]
Addressing the Workforce Needs of Youth in Urban Settings: A Study of Local Workforce Development Boards’ Inclusion of Youth Expertise
Principal Investigator: This project will examine Local Workforce Development Boards (WDBs) in urban settings in regard to their inclusion of youth perspectives in planning and implementation. Currently, insufficient evidence exists regarding the policy networks to address youth employment in cities and the characteristics of these networks that promote innovative, sustained, and effective results. Disconnected youth […]
Effects of Greenspace Structure on Urban Tree Health and Human Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter: A Biogeochemical Analysis and Exposure Assessment
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigators: Air pollution in urban areas, such as particulate matter emitted from vehicular and industrial activity, has negative effects on vegetation and human health. To encourage reductions in air pollution in urban areas, many cities have increased vegetation through tree planting campaigns, which has been shown to reduce cardiovascular disease prevalence and […]
Urban Heat Exposure, Cooling Demand and Electricity Consumption under Future Climate Change: an Empirical Approach
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators Can cities adapt in sustainable ways to the impacts of climate change? Different cities across the world will face different health risks due to rising temperatures, and urban populations will have varied adaptation options over the time-frames in which temperatures will increase. Such heterogeneity suggests the need for differentiated approaches to […]
The “Aging Disaster” of COVID19: The Association of Social Isolation and Loneliness to Perceived Health, Psychological Wellbeing, and Material Hardship Among Boston Residents Age 60 and Older
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: This project, in collaboration with the City of Boston’s Age Strong Commission, explores the experiences of Boston residents age 60 and older during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Given their risk of severe complications from COVID-19, adults age 60 and older have been told to stay at home and […]
Assessing City Health Care Workers’ SARS-CoV2 Transmission to Families
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: Co-Investigator: This pilot study seeks to understand whether healthcare workers are exposing their families and household members to SARS-CoV2—the virus that causes COVID-19—and if so, how they are exposing them. Such take-home exposure through an infected healthcare worker or a worker taking SARS-CoV2 virus on their clothing, skin, or belongings poses […]
How Are Cities Responding to the COVID-19 Housing Crisis?
Principal Investiator: Co-Principal Investiator: Many cities have responded to the housing crisis caused by COVID-19 with various protections and programs, ranging from financial relief funds for housing costs to eviction and foreclosure moratoriums. Einstein and Palmer will examine the patchwork of housing policies created in response to the COVID-19 crisis for the 150 largest cities […]
From the Pediatric Frontlines: Basic Needs, Access to COVID19 Supports & Equity Among Families with Young Children in the Boston Area
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigator: Young children are in a sensitive period of body and brain development and may be susceptible to significant changes brought about by COVID-19, including the economic stability of their families, food insecurity, housing security, and access to COVID-19 support. Drawing on existing survey data that Children’s HealthWatch, a research and policy […]