Projects

Below is a list of projects pursued by BARI. To learn more about the data, findings, policy implications, and learning opportunities for each project, click on the titles below.

• “Seeing” Neighborhoods through “Big” Data: Modern administrative data—from 311 and 911 calls to building permit applications to Tweets—offer a detailed view of events and conditions across the city.
• Custodianship in the Urban Commons: BARI has worked closely with the Mayor’s Office of New urban Mechanics and the 311 system examine how Bostonians contribute to the maintenance of the public spaces and infrastructure of neighborhoods—that is, custodianship in the urban commons.
• Pursuing Equity in Boston Public Schools: In 2014 the Boston Public Schools (BPS) implemented a new school choice and assignment system that they have since sought to evaluate in collaboration with faculty from four local universities.
• Segregation and Urban Mobility: A major indicator of economic inequality is residential inequality, the extent to which people of different class backgrounds live in different neighborhoods.  Do these differences affect how people move about and engage with different areas of the city?
• Problem Properties: In 2011, Mayor Menino established the Problem Properties Task Force, an inter-departmental initiative focused on identifying and responding to properties where there is persistent criminal activity and violations of the sanitation and building codes.
• Making “Smart Cities” Smarter: The “age of smart cities” is upon us, and yet no one appears to know what that means. Although interconnected technologies, like sensors, kiosks, and autonomous vehicles, promise to transform the urban landscape, their potential is largely undefined.