How is the Initiative on Cities Making a Difference in Urban Scholarship?

We catalyze early-stage research that deepens understanding of cities and urban populations. Today, with over half the world’s population living in urban areas, it is more crucial than ever for scholars and practitioners to address the complex challenges facing 21st-century cities – and to shape the policies and practices that will shape their future. If you are a member of the BU community and interested in submitting a proposal, we encourage you to review our annual requests for proposals, which typically open in December or January.  
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Project Themes

Year Awarded

724 result(s) found.

  • Race and Policing in America’s Cities: The Role of Mayors

    May 23, 2021
    Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: Scholars of urban politics have long noted the limited power of mayors to address racial inequality. In recent decades, state governments and the federal government have curtailed the policymaking authority of urban administrations while also reducing funding sent to urban areas. White flight and capital mobility, meanwhile, have eroded the tax […]

  • Race, Place, and Policing During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multi-City Study

    May 1, 2020
    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 […]
  • The Initiative on Cities is proud to be a supporting partner of Race, Prison, Justice: Illuminating Story Through the Arts, a part of the Prison Arts Project of the BU College of Fine Arts. Members of the BU Community are invited to register for workshops that will explore the intersection of social justice and the arts with a 4-session interdisciplinary arts collaboration. Designed to explore race and incarceration as systemic injustice and the intersection of social justice and the arts, this program will feature guests with a history of incarceration and arts activism, including Halim Flowers, artist and social justice entrepreneur. Students will have the opportunity to cultivate creativity through theatre, music, dance, visual arts, etc and learn how to use the arts as a powerful tool for storytelling, transformation, and healing. There are two cohorts, with different meeting dates: Cohort 1 will meet on Tuesdays, from 3:30pm to 5pm ET on March 2, 9, 16, and 23 Cohort 2 will meet on Thursdays from 7-8:30pm ET on March 4, 11, 25 Register today! Please note that members of the BU Community (students, faculty, staff, and alumni) are welcome to register. Questions? Please contact Judy Braha at judyb@bu.edu or André de Quadros at adq@bu.edu or 617-694-2449.  Race, Prison, Justice: Illuminating Story Through the Arts is presented by the African American Studies Program, BU Arts Initiative, College of Fine Arts, the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground, the Initiative on Cities, and BU Diversity & Inclusion. 

    Race, Prison, Justice: Illuminating Story Through the Arts

    February 23, 2021
    The Initiative on Cities is proud to be a supporting partner of Race, Prison, Justice: Illuminating Story Through the Arts, a part of the Prison Arts Project of the BU College of Fine Arts. Members of the BU Community are invited to register for workshops that will explore the intersection of social justice and the […]

  • Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Arrest Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic

    September 17, 2021
    The Initiative on Cities Working Paper Series recently published "Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Arrest Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic," a new working paper by Jaquelyn Jahn (Post-Doctoral Scholar, CUNY Graduate Center); Jessica Simes (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Boston University); Tori Cowger (Doctoral Student, Harvard University); and Brigette Davis (Doctoral Student, Harvard University.) This research was […]
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    Racial Justice in Cities – IOC Statement

    June 1, 2020
    Cities exist to bring people together. As we have learned during these last few months, a city devoid of people is not a city at all. But it is not enough that we inhabit the same space. Everyone has the right to live in and move through our cities, to be safe, secure and welcome […]

  • Recommendations for Health Services Delivery Options for ECHO Village

    May 16, 2022
    Principal Inestigator Co-Principal Investigator Mental health problems and substance use disorders (SUDs) have been a major driver of housing insecurity and homelessness in nearly every major U.S. city. As fentanyl spread rapidly in illegal markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, many more people turned to opioids when treatment facilities and other essential social services shut down. […]
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    Reducing Disparities and Promoting Well-Being in Boston: The Role of the BU Community

    October 17, 2016
    How is the Boston University community helping mitigate racial inequity in Boston? Join us on Wednesday, October 26th from 4-5:30pm for the second event in our Racial Equity series, Reducing Disparities and Promoting Well-Being in Boston: The Role of the BU Community. Featuring program leaders from across the University, The Role of the BU Community will highlight a broad […]
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    Reducing Disparities and Promoting Well-Being in Boston: The Role of the BU Community

    January 3, 2017
    On Wednesday, October 26, 2016, as part of the Reducing Inequity series, the Boston University (BU) Initiative on Cities hosted Reducing Disparities and Promoting Well-Being in Boston: The Role of the BU Community, the second in a series of events aimed at exploring race and equity in the city. Representatives from the Boston University School […]
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    Reducing Disparities: Advancing Toward Racial Equity

    October 17, 2016
    Across the country, urban universities are embracing new roles and expanding their varied contributions to the well-being of the communities they call home. Research universities are also uniquely positioned to evaluate and understand the challenges confronting residents in their region, and support programs and evidence-based interventions to help improve outcomes and advance equity. Over the […]

  • Reducing Identity-Based Harassment for Marginalized Youth: An Evaluation of the Anti-Defamation League’s Peer Leader Program among Urban Youth

    May 19, 2019
    Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: One of the most pressing societal problems facing youth is identity-based bullying and harassment, which is on the rise in the United States. Although all forms of bullying and harassment are destructive, identity-based bullying and harassment are associated with even worse health and educational outcomes than other harassment forms, highlighting the […]