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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664 result(s) found.

  • URBAN Trainee Kathryn Atherton Researches Urban Soil Microbiomes

    February 16, 2022
    Watch Video: URBAN Trainee Kathryn Atherton Researches Urban Soil Microbiomes Kathryn Atherton is a PhD Student studying Bioinformatics in the BU URBAN Program. She received a 2021 Early Stage Urban Research Award from the Initiative on Cities (IOC) for her project, “The Impact of Racism on Urban Belowground Biodiversity.” Read the Q&A with Atherton and […]

  • Using Data to Inform Policy and Programmatic Responses to Unaccompanied Adult Homelessness in Boston

    September 2, 2015
    Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator Led by Assistant Professors Thomas Byrne, Yoonsook Ha, and Daniel Miller in collaboration with the Mayor’s Task Force on Individual Homelessness, this project seeks to identify key gaps in existing knowledge about unaccompanied homeless adults who experience related episodes of shelter use over time. In order to both examine gaps in […]
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    Using Data to Streamline City Services: My Summer in Providence

    September 20, 2017
    This summer I worked as the Boston University Initiative on Cities Fellow for the City of Providence’s Department of Innovation. The Department of Innovation works with internal and external stakeholders to streamline the delivery of city services, promote public entrepreneurship, and enhance citizen engagement, to ensure Providence is a “City that Works” for its residents […]

  • Valerie Sanchez Covaleda: My Summer with the City of Providence Office of Sustainability

    October 31, 2022
    By Valerie Sanchez Covaleda (CAS/CGS ’24). Valerie was the Initiative on Cities’ 2022 Providence, RI Justice Fellowship with the Office of Sustainability. The Providence Justice Fellowship through the BU Initiative on Cities (IOC) was a really informative experience that I am grateful to have had the opportunity to complete. As a junior pursuing law as […]

  • Virtual Reality & Urban Ecology Teleport to Experience Urban Infrastructure on Dorchester Avenue

    November 15, 2017
    On October 25th, PhD candidates Yaxiong Ma and Jessica Wright demonstrated their virtual reality project on urban underground infrastructure. With the guidance of BU Earth & Environment professors Sucharita Gopal and Nathan Phillips, the two explored how to create a coordinated infrastructure system. Through a virtual reality headset created by Ma, users can teleport to four different views of Dorchester Avenue in […]

  • Water Use Efficiency in Urban Street Trees

    July 5, 2018
    Principal Investigators Under the direction of Boston University Associate Professor Lucy Hutyra, Earth & Environment PhD candidate Sarah Garvey will examine water use efficiency among urban street trees in order to determine their climate sensitivity in relation to non-urban trees. Her research question is based on her lab’s recent work that suggests Boston’s street tree […]
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    We the Possibility: Harnessing Public Entrepreneurship to Solve Our Most Urgent Problems

    March 12, 2021
    Held on Thursday, March 18, 2021 at 12pm, watch a recording and read a recap

  • Welcoming our new Visiting Research Scholar, Lasse Bundgaard

    March 14, 2019
    Lasse Bundgaard is an Industrial PhD Student from Copenhagen Business Schools' Department of Organization. He has professional experience from the Economics Department of the City of Copenhagen and academic expertise within public organizations’ role in innovation. Lasse is officially employed at the Copenhagen Solutions Lab affiliated with the City of Copenhagen, Denmark, who aim to […]

  • Welcoming our new Visiting Researcher, Daniel Steele

    February 7, 2019
    Daniel Steele is interested in design, planning, and decision-making processes centered on the consideration of urban sound. Beyond just looking at noise levels and pollution, he explores opportunities to integrate positive experiences with sound into the complex urban realm. Daniel’s graduate research focused on the gaps between research and practice, and he draws from years […]

  • We’re Hiring: Postdoctoral Research Associate

    February 4, 2025
    The Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) invites applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position starting September 1, 2025. This is a two-year appointment. The IOC PDRA will have expertise in urban studies and undertake a research project designed by themselves in relation to an urban issue or challenge in the U.S. and/or abroad. […]