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.

  • Stress in the City: Examining metabolic consequences of toxicological exposures in resilient urban corals under global change stressors

    May 22, 2021
    Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: Marine organisms located offshore from urban centers face potentially negative interactive effects from pollutants (heavy metals, microplastics, pharmaceuticals, increased nutrients) and global change stressors (increasing sea temperature and acidity). Corals are just one example of a marine urban organism that may be vulnerable to these stressors. One seemingly resilient coral is […]

  • Student Fellows on an Unforgettable Summer Working at Boston City Hall

    September 17, 2021
    BU Today: Six BU Students on an Unforgettable Summer Working at Boston City Hall 2021 City Scholars and Initiative on Cities Summer Fellows talk about an experience that influenced and shaped their career goals Three of this year’s interns were BU City Scholars Summer Fellows, a program funded by the University’s Government & Community Affairs office open to any […]

  • Submit Proposals for BARI Conference at BU on 4/27

    January 3, 2018
    The BU Initiative on Cities is partnering with the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) to host their spring conference, Confronting Inequality and Economic Mobility: Data-Driven Lessons From Boston, For Boston. We are looking for faculty, students, and members of the private and public sectors to submit ideas for panels, presentations, and posters. The submission deadline […]

  • Summer Fellow Interview: Kevin Flakes

    May 29, 2019
    By: Doruntina Zeneli Kevin is currently pursuing a master’s in Urban Affairs with a specialization in urban inequalities and capacity building. Before entering the program, he consulted for banking clients, focusing on projects to mitigate risk, eliminate inefficiencies, and improve customer experience. Kevin graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, with a BS in Accounting. […]

  • Summer Fellow Interview: Tori Amy Douglas

    June 6, 2019
    Tori is a rising senior at Boston University majoring in Political Science and minoring in Philosophy. She has previously worked for the WaterFront Center in New York, where she worked with children to teach the importance of environmental conservation. She interned at Environment America, where she worked on a campaign focused on committing college campuses […]

  • Summer Mental Health Access for Urban Youth

    July 17, 2017
    Principal Investigators Associate Professor Jennifer Greif Green in collaboration with Assistant Professor Elizabeth Bettini, Professor Donna Pincus and Ph.D. candidate Rachel Oblath will investigate mental health service access for urban youth during the three summer months when school is not in session. The aim of this research is to examine whether and where urban youth receive mental […]

  • Supporting Asian Parents and Children Talking about Race and Racism (ACTRR): A Pilot Ethnic Racial Socialization Intervention Study for Chinese and Vietnamese Families

    May 16, 2022
    Principal Investigator: Co-Principal Investigators: Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans have experienced a significant increase in racism across the U.S., including in Boston. They may experience racism directly and/or are indirectly affected by highly publicized anti-Asian incidents across the U.S. Direct and indirect exposure to racism may increase the risk of mental […]
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    Tackling Racial Inequities in Boston: What’s BU Learning?

    September 19, 2016
    The Initiative on Cities is honored to join the Boston University Research Office in co-hosting the next Research on Tap, Tackling Racial Inequities in Boston: What's BU Learning? on Monday, September 26th from 4pm-6pm at the BU Hillel House, 213 Bay State Road, Boston, 4th floor. What is BU Learning? will bring together faculty from across BU […]

  • Tammy Dong: Reflecting on my 2023–2024 NLC Menino Fellowship

    April 10, 2025
    The Menino Fellowship has been an amazing experience and widened my perspective on the work done by municipal leaders across the country. During the 2023-2024 school year, I was a senior finishing my degree in International Relations. I hadn’t taken any classes in urban policy before, so the research that I did during the course […]

  • Taylor Cain: Equitable Decision Making for Boston’s Streets and My Summer as a MONUM Fellow

    September 14, 2017
    When I applied for the summer fellowship with the Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, I knew that I would be asked to do more than think.  While daunting, this shift in orientation was also exciting, and I braced myself for a summer where I might bridge my world of scholarly contemplation with my desire to directly […]