Urban and Public Policy
Centers and Institutes
Center for Urban and Regional Policy (CURP)
Director: Barry Bluestone, Russell B. and Andrée B. Stearns Trustee Professor of Political Economy
CURP is involved in a wide array of initiatives, all aimed at helping policymakers and citizens better understand the dimensions of urban issues, with research and community service projects addressing housing, workforce development, economic development, education and information access. CURP’s 16-member staff and 14 consultants have conducted major studies of the Greater Boston housing crisis and comprehensive labor market studies of Lawrence and Holyoke, Massachusetts; surveyed Boston residents on the city’s most pressing economic needs; examined the most innovative metropolitan collaborations to strengthen economies in Chicago, Milwaukee, San Diego, and San Francisco; and is devising workable strategies for addressing the affordable housing shortage in Massachusetts and “Smart Growth” location options for commercial and industrial activity. CURP’s work has received support from the U.S. Department of Labor, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, The Ford, Rockefeller, Russell Sage, Boston, and Century Foundations, Fleet Bank, NStar, and the Boston Housing Authority. Founded in 1999.
Institute on Urban Health Research
Director: Hortensia Amaro, Distinguished Professor of Counseling and Applied Psychology
The IUHR’s seven faculty, three graduate fellows and nine research staff are focusing research on health issues that disproportionately impact urban communities, such as substance abuse, HIV/AIDS prevention and policy, interventions for children diagnosed with asthma, cardiovascular disease behavioral interventions, nutrition behavioral interventions with school age children, traditional Chinese health practices, racial and ethnic differences in service delivery patterns, and brain mechanisms involved in opiate tolerance. The goal of the IUHR is to improve the health of urban populations through the generation of knowledge that informs health policies, disease prevention programs and health services. In its first year of funding, the IUHR received more than $1.4 million in research and training grants and has partnered with the Boston Public Health Commission, Massachusetts Department of Public Health and community health centers. In addition to these agencies, the IUHR’s Advisory Board includes representation from Partners Health Care, Boston Public Schools, Blue Cross/Blue Shield as well as nationally renowned scholars from diverse institutions throughout the country. Founded in 2002.