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 […]
Race, Place, and Policing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-City Study
Principial Investigator: Co-Principial Investigator: Low-level policing—which includes enforcement and arrests based on quality-of-life offenses such as disorderly conduct, property damage, unauthorized public gathering, or trespassing—has devastated communities of color in the United States. Simes and Jahn will examine if and how COVID-19 has changed low-level policing, particularly with regard to the racial inequities in rates […]
Understanding Open-Air Drug Markets Configuration
Principal Investigator 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 expansion and why the community ceded […]
Urban Policing and Racial Health Inequities
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator The United States is characterized by inequities that are particularly striking with regard to race. While there are many studies documenting factors associated with racial inequities in health and that policing may be associated with worse mental health and well-being, there are few causal studies of policies that drive structural changes […]
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 and we are thrilled to announce we have funded 13 projects with topics […]
Constructing City Images through Local Media: An Intermedia Agenda-Setting Analysis of Big Media Data
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator: 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 external investment, residence, and tourism. Investigators will focus on how local media plays a critical role in communicating the status quo […]
The Impact of Tourism on Environmental Sound Levels in Urban and Park Environments
Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator 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 will study the impacts of tourism on a city’s environmental soundscape to better understand how the […]
Locked Out: Examining the Use of Urban Housing Admissions Policies to Systematically Exclude Poor Renters
Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investiator: 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 how affordable housing providers’ admissions policies create barriers to housing for individuals with criminal records, […]