research project on a city

Looking beyond smart cities

Creative Commons

Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Ariel Noyman, City Science group, MIT Media Lab

Group Contact:

• [email protected]
• Other Press Inquiries

Remaking City by Community-based Social Innovation

The research on Community-based Social Innovation focuses on the reshaping of urban spaces by human social behavior, incorporating an analy…

Human-AI Collaborative Planning Method for Incremental Urban Transformation

COVID-19 pandemic served as a catalyst for reimagining urban spaces and emphasized the need for walkable, life-work balanced coummunities.&…

Efficient Validation of Humanized-Agent Based Models

The advent of large language models suggests rethinking how Agent-Based Models (ABMs) are designed, making it possible to simulate human so…

Living Lab with CityScope using h-ABM

In the CityScope platform, we leverage humanized Agent-Based Models (h-ABMs) to elevate urban simulation to new heights of realism and comp…

Guadalajara Mobility Choices

Mobility Choices is used to predict transportation mode choices of students at the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) within the Guadalajara …

CityScope@Guadalajara

Es un sistema de simulación y visualización urbana que permite configurar escenarios de intervenciones y así evaluar las posibles repercusi…

Zero-knowledge (ZK) Tax

zkTax is a zero-knowledge tax disclosure system that allows individuals to make provable claims about select information in their tax retur…

The BentoScope is a portable iteration of the CityScope platform, conceived by the City Science group at the MIT Media Lab. This compact ve…

MobiScope: Advancing Decision-Making in New Urban Mobility

Urban mobility is changing at an increasingly rapid pace.  In this context, stakeholders such as governments and mobility operators ne…

CityScope Costanera

CityScope Costanera is a tangible platform that outlines the Costanera neighborhood of Concepcion, Biobío Chile. The Costanera de Concepció…

Equity WITHOUT Zoning

Increasing equity and affordability through fractional ownership including the creation of local economies that promote prosocial behaviors…

The SoCity project aims to build a non-profit DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) to bring together communities, individuals and or…

Predicting Behavioral Changes as a result of land-use Modifications in Auto-Centric Communities

Data-Driven Mobility Choice Modeling for Dallas TXJobs and entrepreneurship to foster informal business transformation into 'more formal' e…

City Science Lab @ Taipei

The City Science Lab @ Taipei is a cooperation between The National Taipei University of Technology, also called NTUT or Taipei Tech, …

City Science Lab @ Israel

The MIT City Science team will work with Ben-Gurion University (BGU) in Beersheba on a new collaboration to create the City Science Lab @ I…

Gastronomy And Beyond

Gastronomy and Beyond (G&B) aims to unite individuals who contribute to innovation in the realms of culture, products, territories, sus…

Quantum Computing in Urban Design

Integrating quantum computing into urban design presents a groundbreaking approach to city planning and modeling. By harnessing the unique …

Humanizing Agent-Based Models (h - ABM)

Humanizing Agent-Based Models (h-ABM) emerges as a pioneering technique to simulate real-world behaviors, aiming to seamlessly bridge …

Drone package delivery and consumer privacy

Door-to-door drone package deliveries are taking off across the US.  In this work we expose and study a newly emerging privacy is…

Deciding Across Scales

​Deciding Across Scales emerges as a cutting-edge approach to decision-making, aiming to influence various sectors and societal levels…

An Explainable AI Model for Commuting Flow Generation

Understanding the link between urban planning and commuting flows is crucial for guiding urban development and policymaking. This research,…

The negative impact of vegetarian and vegan labels: Results from randomized controlled experiments

OverviewWe found that vegan and vegetarian labels commonly found on menu items have a significantly negative impact on consumer's likelihoo…

ImmerScope City: Blending Perspectives and Design Experiences

ImmerScope City is a tool designed to help people visualize complex urban designs in a more engaging and accessible way. It goes beyond the…

Generative Land Use for Human-centric Communities

The Generative Land Use project aims to revolutionize urban planning by developing a cutting-edge algorithm that generates the ideal land u…

A distributed sensing system for managing water resources in informal communities.

The City Science Summit - Overview

The City Science Summit is an annual gathering of the City Science Network: an international community of institutions and researchers that…

City Science Lab @ Gipuzkoa

The MIT City Science team will work with the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa and Mubil Fundazioa on a new collaboration to create the City Sci…

How to Grow (Almost) Anything - A New Model for Global Synthetic Biology Education

A Distance Learning Model for Global Laboratory-Based Synthetic Biology Education Synthetic Biology ( SynBio) tools hold the…

Autonomous micro-mobility for food deliveries

Could we substitute cars by shared autonomous lightweight vehicles for food delivery? We have developed an agent-based simulation model tha…

Urban Mobility Swarms: towards a decentralized autonomous bicycle-sharing system

Urban mobility can often be categorized as a complex system—e.g., a nonlinear system composed of many components that interact with each …

Hyper-LOCAL Solutions to GLOBAL Challenges

Optimizing environmental, social, and economic performance of cities.Cities play a central role in the climate crisis. According to the lat…

City Science Lab @ Biobío

The MIT City Science team will work with the Cámara Chilena de la Construcción (CChC), Corporación Ciudades, and the Biobío regional govern…

The City Science group uses simulations and visualizations to explain to stakeholders, including citizens, the various "what if" scenarios …

Ocean Logger: A Community-scale Ocean Profiling Sensor Node

Community-scale profiling sensor node for  ocean monitoring and community coordination of fishing activities. 

Low-cost, modular, open source, and portable bio-reactor for urban bio-sensor development.

Chameleon is a machine learning enhanced sensor system that uses CO2 and PIR sensors to classify room occupancy and use.

Can autonomy make bike-sharing more sustainable?

Autonomous bicycles have recently been proposed as a new and more efficient approach to bicycle-sharing systems, but how do they compare fr…

Understanding the 15 Minute City

City Science researchers are engaging in an exploratory process to understand, develop, and model a platform with a focus on the 15-minute …

Two Mobility Futures 0∞

Two Mobility Futures 0∞ is a research project that encompasses storytelling, a democratic decision making platform, a city model, and an im…

ESG+C | Environmental, Social & Governance + Community Metrics for CityScope

ESG+Community

Autonomous micro-mobility simulation study

What will be the impact of shared autonomous micro-mobility systems? Will autonomy make the micro-mobility systems even more attractive?&nb…

Tangible Swarm: see the unseen

Tangible Swarm is a tool that displays relevant information about a robotics system (e.g., multi-robot, swarm, etc.) in real time whil…

RoboScope is a transformable, tangible-interface developed for the CityScope platform. This interface allows for on-demand, three-dime…

Informality Crowdsourced Database

Following The Power of Without agenda, the City Science group proposes the Informality Crowdsourced Database. This platform …

Brigada forestal FEMAF - FEMAF's Forest Firefighters

Protegiendo el bosque del CentinelaPromover y brindar las herramientas necesarias en el comportamiento del fuego y en el manejo de incident…

Keyhole. Huertos Comunitarios - Community Gardens - Lomas del Centinela

Huertos Comunitarios Keyhole en Lomas del Centinela Keyhole Community Gardens in Lomas del Centinela

Somos Centinelas - We are Sentinels

Somos centinelas: hacia una educación sin barreras de accesoWe are Sentinels: Towards an education without access barriersLa Univ…

Algorithmic zoning

The Algorithmic Zoning project explores dynamically reconfigurable incentives that encourage the pro-social development of urban areas so a…

Mobility and COVID-19 in Andorra

Country-scale analysis of high-resolution mobility patterns and infection spreadThe MIT Media Lab City Science group and the Andorra Innova…

The COVID Pandemic through the Lens of Vulnerable Youth in NYC

This project aims to explore how the Covid-19 pandemic might have further increased social inequalities by impacting those who were …

Breathing Planet

Breathing Planet is an actuated expandable object that uses an iris structure as the underlying mechanism. It has a light source in the cen…

Safe Cities: Urban Mobility and Security Perception via Agent-Based Modeling

Walking as the most natural form of urban mobility plays a crucial role in shaping the quality of daily life. However, safety concerns ofte…

Technologies Toolkit

Following The Power of Without agenda, the City Science group proposes the Technologies Toolkit. This research aims to translate the knowle…

Taxonomy of informality

 UN Habitat recognized in its Global Report on Human Settlements an effort to address informality with unconventional approaches, focu…

Novel Antenna-Based Controller for Musical ExpressionTune Field is a 3-dimensional tangible interface that combines and alters previously e…

Resilience Across Scales

Resilience Across Scales is a research theme that encompasses the work of a few Media Lab Principal Investigators and their research groups…

ABM Resilient Cities

Agent Based Modeling for behaviours, building occupancy loads and risk infection at the University of Guadalajara. In collaboration wi…

What is the Impact of Opportunity Zones on Employment Outcomes?

We study the effect of Opportunity Zones (OZs) on employment outcomes. We match zip codes with OZs to a control group of similar zip codes …

Whispers Of The Mountain

Whispers Of The Mountain is a  sensor system mounted on snow skis.  The system allows for crowdsourcing environmental data of mou…

JettSen is  an open source mobile sensor system that enables citizens, urban planners, and city officials to collectively address urba…

The Power of Without

The Power of WITHOUT is a research theme in the City Science group. The theme proposes that heavy infrastructure solutions are not financia…

The MIT Autonomous Bicycle Project

A lightweight research platform to develop autonomous technology Designed to transform bicycle-sharing systems into an on-demand mobil…

Assessing Disease Exposure Risk With Location Histories And Protecting Privacy

Governments and researchers around the world are implementing digital contact tracing solutions to stem the spread of infectious disease, n…

With(in) is a multi-stage project that includes an exhibit, installation, qualitative exploration, and visual storytelling.This is a s…

CityScope Champs-Élysées

An interactive  platform to improve decision-making related to the revitalization of the Champs ÉlyséesCityScope Champs-Élysée is a ta…

CityScope Hanoi: Water management in the Red River

Agent-Based Modelling for water management: a study case of the Bac Hung Hai irrigation system in the Red River Delta, Vietnam.

Private Location Data for the Public Good and Urban Understanding

There is a continuous and ubiquitous collection of precise, timestamped, geolocation data from apps and devices, being amassed by private f…

Virtual CityScope Champs-Élysées is an interactive and immersive platform that explores the future of Paris’ most important street.

Complex Economic Activities Concentrate in Large Cities

Human activities, such as research, innovation and industry, concentrate disproportionately in large cities. The ten most innovative cities…

WITHOUT Identity

Graphics on incompletenessThe City Science Summit 2019, CITIES WITHOUT, explored a future without top-down and obsolete systems. During the…

Grain Prism

The Grain Prism is a hybrid musical instrument that combines granular synthesis and live audio recordings. Presented in a capacitive touch …

SoapCam is a WIP Human Computer Interaction system that motivates proper hand washing routines."Hand hygiene is the most important measure …

Crypto Voting + US Elections: Reality and Science Fiction

This is a two-part project. One part is about reality. The other part is science fiction. Both are about mobile, blockchain, and cryptograp…

Proxymix: Influence of spatial configuration on human collaboration

Proxymix is a visualization tool to understand the influence of spatial configuration on human collaboration. This agent-based model at the…

The Deep Image of the City

How do you image a city that doesn't exist? DeepScope is a novel platform for interactive, real-time, and setup-less urban design visu…

The RGBox is an experimental game to teach fundamentals of additive color mixing theory. As opposed to the behavior of pigments that g…

Income, Race, Bikes

Is the placement of bike-share docks equitable?This interactive map explores the question visually.The map shows the addition of bike-share…

[bike] swarm

As bikes navigate city streets after dark, they are often equipped with lights. The lights make the bikes visible to cars or other bikers, …

CityScope LivingLine Shanghai

College of Design and Innovation of Tongji University, Shanghai, and the MIT Media Lab's City Science group are co-developing a version of …

3D Mobility

Unfolding the way we move. Mobility has shaped the built environment since humans started settling together. From industrial towns to …

AR Enhanced Wall Plants: Escape Pod

An environment of plants and mirrors that extends beyond the terrarium walls. 

Theme | CityScope

City Science researchers are developing a slew of tangible and digital platforms dedicated to solving spatial design and urban planning cha…

Piccolo Kitchen

This project aims to create a modular platform for exploring micro-kitchens that are culture specific. Cooking is a personal experience tha…

BASIC: Blockchained Agent-based Simulator for Cities

Autonomous vehicles (AVs), drones, and other types of robots will revolutionize our way of traveling and understanding urban space. In orde…

MoCho: Mobility choices and societal impacts

MoCho (short for "Mobility Choices") is a CityScope module focused on mobility choices and societal impacts. This tool helps pred…

FindingPlaces

What is FindingPlaces?In reaction to the sudden arrival of tens of thousands of refugees in the city of Hamburg (DE) in 2015, the Lord Mayo…

CityScope Cooper Hewitt

We are at the dawn of a mobility revolution, where autonomous vehicles will replace cars controlled by humans. We can imagine this developi…

City Science Lab @ Guadalajara

The City Science Lab@Guadalajara is a collaboration with the University of Guadalajara (UdeG), a network composed of 15 campuses within the…

Dynamic Traffic Prediction in Andorra: a Bayesian network approach

Data Fusion for Dynamic Traffic PredictionTraffic congestion has huge negative impacts on the productivity, health and personal lives …

Deep Urban Interaction

Analyze and visualize urban interaction with computer vision and deep neural net. 

City Science Lab @ Toronto

City Science Lab Toronto was established in cooperation with Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.  It  started in 2018 and is t…

Receptive Skins: The Breathing Wall

In architecture, the building skin is the primary interface for mediating the environment of the external with the internal. But today, thi…

Reversed Urbanism

Predicting Urban Performance through Behavioral Patterns in Temporal Telecom DataThis study explores a novel method to analyze diverse beha…

Tangible View Cube

 A Handheld Device for Realtime Spatial Movement, Remote Control and Perspectival Orientation between Physical objects and Digital 3-D…

TerMITes are a wireless environmental sensor platform that enables designers and researchers with the necessary tools to capture envir…

Persuasive Electric Vehicle (PEV)

An Alternative Autonomous Revolution System design for emerging urban contexts and societal aspirationsThe Persuasive Electric Vehicle…

An Urban Decision-Support System Augmented by Artificial IntelligenceThe decision-making process in urban design and urban planning is outd…

CityScope Volpe

CityScope Volpe is demonstrating most of the urban planning, analysis, and prediction features developed for the CityScope project. The sit…

City Science Lab @ Shanghai

Tongji University, Shanghai, and the MIT Media Lab's City Science group are co-developing a version of the MIT CityScope platform for …

The esc-Pod  (or Escape Pod) is an exploratory platform for researchers investigating moments of refuge within our bustling work lives…

Andorra | Dynamic Urban Planning

Research in dynamic tools, mix users (citizens, workers) amenities, services, and land use, with the goal of promoting sustainable developm…

Urban Tattoo

Scalable Urban Infrastructure for Human-Machine CohabitationNew infrastructure to help sustain public-sector participation and operation, a…

City Science Lab @ Andorra

Andorra and the City Science research group at the MIT Media Lab are taking on the challenge of turning Andorra into an “Internationally Re…

Last Mile Logistics

Developed by Ira Winder with the MIT Centre for Transportation and Logistics, the model seeks to use real population data and create a simu…

Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) in Social & Public Environments

Facilitating coexistence, trust-building, and collaboration among people and machines.New modes of 21st century urban transportation are be…

Service deployment simulation for light-weight, mixed-use autonomous fleets

Forecasting the supply of fleets to meet emerging travel demands and service needs in citiesThe availability of vehicles is a critical fact…

City Science Lab @ Hamburg

MIT City Science is working with HafenCity University to develop digital tools to enable more livable communities. In one project, the team…

Cloud-Based Urban Data PlatformcityIO (input/output) is a cloud- and database-driven platform which allows remote participation, database a…

Open-Source Autonomous Platform for Educational and Service Design ApplicationsHow can new technologies respond to society’s diverse indust…

Boston Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Community Engagement

The development of transportation improvements in any city poses a range of challenges, including meaningfully involving relevant stakehold…

CityScope PlayGround: MIT East Campus

This project depicts the design, deployment and operation of a Tangible Regulation Platform, a physical-technological apparatus made for th…

Aalto Campus-as-a-Service Simulations

How can we get more value from the same buildings? Cities contain many different resources and spaces and typically, these resources o…

The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project

Cite this chapter.

• Ernest W. Burgess 7  

19k Accesses

35 Citations

The aggregation of urban population has been described by Bücher and Weber. A sociological study of the growth of the city, however, is concerned with the definition and description of processes, as those of ( a ) expansion, ( b ) metabolism, and ( c ) mobility. The typical tendency of urban growth is the expansion radially from its central business district by a series of concentric circles, as ( a ) the central business district, ( b ) a zone of deterioration, ( c ) a zone of workingmen’s homes, ( d ) a residential area, and ( e ) a commuters’ zone. Urban growth may be even more fundamentally stated as the resultant of processes of organization and disorganization, like the anabolic and katabolic processes of metabolism in the human body. The distribution of population into the natural areas of the city, the division of labor, the differentiation into social and cultural groupings, represent the normal manifestations of urban metabolism, as statistics of disease, crime, disorder, vice, insanity, and suicide are rough indexes of its abnormal expression. The state of metabolism of the city may, it is suggested, be measured by mobility, defined as a change of movement in response to a new stimulus or situation. Areas in the city of the greatest mobility are found to be also regions of juvenile delinquency, boys’ gangs, crime, poverty, wife desertion, divorce, abandoned infants, etc. Suggested indexes of mobility are statistics of changes of movement and increase of contacts of city population, as in the increase per capita in the total annual rides on surface and elevated lines, number of automobiles, letters received, telephones, and land values. A cross-section of the city has been selected for the intensive study of urban growth in terms of expansion, metabolism, and mobility.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

• Available as PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info
• Durable hardcover edition

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Unable to display preview.  Download preview PDF.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

University of Chicago, Chicago

Ernest W. Burgess

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and affiliations.

University of Washington, Box 352100, Seattle, WA 98195

John M. Marzluff , Gordon Bradley  & Clare Ryan ,  & 

University of Washington, 3912 NE 127th Street, Seattle, WA 98125

Eric Shulenberger

Geographisches Institute, Humboldt University Unter den Linden, 10099 Berlin, Germany

Wilfried Endlicher

University of Washington, Box 355740, Seattle, WA 98195

Marina Alberti

Humboldt University Miningstrasse 46, 12359 Berlin, Germany

Craig ZumBrunnen

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Burgess, E.W. (2008). The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project. In: Marzluff, J.M., et al. Urban Ecology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73412-5_5

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-73412-5_5

Publisher Name : Springer, Boston, MA

Print ISBN : 978-0-387-73411-8

Online ISBN : 978-0-387-73412-5

eBook Packages : Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedical and Life Sciences (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

• Latest Posts
• LSE Authors
• Choose a Book for Review
• Submit a Book for Review
• Bookshop Guides

February 14th, 2014

Book review: researching the city: a guide for students by kevin ward.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Kevin Ward’s Researching the City  is a practical guide for students focusing on the city and on the different ways to research it. The authors explains how research is done, from the original idea to design and implementation, through to writing up and representation.  Zachary Spicer writes that this book is constructive, engaging and would be of value to students at the outset of a major research project or dissertation on some aspect of city life.

Researching the City: A Guide for Students. Kevin   Ward.  Sage Publishi ng. November 2013  

Over the past decade, urban research and the study of cities have increasingly become inter-disciplinary in focus, now claimed as the domain of geographers, political scientists, economists, historians, anthropologists and sociologists. Departments of urban studies have popped up at dozens, if not hundreds, of universities worldwide. Urban studies journals attract hundreds of quality submissions every year and thousands of readers, while urban studies associations are amongst the fastest growing academic groups. Needless the say, the city is now not only a unit of analysis, but the focus of an emerging discipline. With the growing interest in urban studies, it is time that students hoping to study the city receive a proper methodological primer. Kevin Ward ’s edited volume, Researching the City , seeks to do just that.

Researching the City is an interesting and useful tool for students hoping to conduct quality research on urban phenomena. Ward’s volume is intended to help students at the dissertation stage and essentially lays out the purpose, direction and expected outcomes, along with the advantages and disadvantages, methodological approaches. He focuses on eight different approaches: archival research, interviews, ethnography, questionnaires, linguistic and discourse analysis, diary research, GIS and photography and video work. In each chapter, the authors carefully outline how each approach has been used, how they are designed and what one might expect in terms of results. In several chapters the authors draw from past work and personal experience and very candidly demonstrate methodological intricacies that may not be detailed elsewhere.

The contributing authors are mostly geographers, but those in other disciplines would find value in their advice and approach. In fact, examining some of the methodologies traditionally used exclusively within geography, such as GIS, may be of immense value to those outside the discipline.

Like most edited volumes, Researching the City has its strengths, but also its weaknesses. First, there is little information on comparative analysis. It is almost taken for granted that students will be embarking upon single city case studies. When comparing cities, different institutional, structural and legal frameworks need to be taken into account, along with economic and social conditions. This is even more important when students are engaging in work comparing cities in different countries. It is a rarity when two cities lend themselves well to a perfect comparison. Students need to be aware of these constraints, especially considering the growing interest in studies comparing cities across borders, and given a proper understanding of how to overcome these research challenges. A chapter devoted entirely to comparative research would be appreciated.

Second, it would be great to provide students with a better understanding of the scope and scale of city research. The city itself is a popular focus, but often researchers must drill down to the neighbourhood level or take a broader view of the city by examining the city-region. The social, cultural, economic, and environmental forces produced at both levels have an impact on “the city” – making students aware of these broader phenomena and the advantages and disadvantages of conducting research at these levels would be helpful. Not every researcher examines the city as the urban space within its (often centrally) delimited borders. Therefore, a discussion on the scale and scope of the city and how these levels are interconnected could prove quite valuable for students. Again, much of this work has a comparative focus.

Finally, a greater explanation as to what “the city” is, how it is theoretically conceived and the relationship between urban and rural would be valuable for students. Urban research has a theoretical base and a strong overview of this would help students examining city life. Some of the chapters in the book do make mention of theoretical conceptualizations of cities, but little of this goes into much depth. Ward also addresses this in the first chapter, but the introduction to the city, its definition and the history of work in the field is brief. Devoting more space to the problems associated with defining what the “city”, what “urban” encompasses and a survey of the discipline would likely be of value to students as well.

With these points acknowledged it is important to reiterate the aims of Researching the City. Ward’s volume is a sincere effort to help students organize their research and make a valuable contribution to our broader research agenda on the city. Ward is modest about the goals of the book stating in the concluding chapter: “This book will not solve the problems you are likely to face when you decide to research the city, for cities are complicated combinations and outcomes of a range of cultural, economic, environmental, social, political, and technological processes…they are complicated in this way – and others too – is also what makes them the subject of so many dissertations each year at universities around the world” (p. 160). Ward is correct: urban research is complex and constantly evolving. Finding a place for your research is challenging for students, but Ward’s volume goes to great lengths to be helpful in this regard.

Overall, Researching the City is constructive and engaging and would be of value to students at the outset of a major research project or dissertation on some aspect of city life. From finding a project, defining a focus and selecting methodology, Ward’s volume sets out to shepherd students through the early challenges of research. In this task, Researching the City succeeds. It will help students organize their thoughts, focus the scope of their research and sharpen their methodological approach. For these reasons, I am happy to recommend Researching the City .

———————————————–

Zachary Spicer  is a PhD Candidate at The University of Western Ontario, where he studies local government and Canadian politics. His research has appeared in  Canadian Public Administration , the Journal of Canadian Studies , the  Journal of Legislative Studies  and the  Canadian Journal of Urban Research.  You can follow him on twitter at  @ZacSpicer .  Read more reviews by Zachary .

About the author

• Pingback: Researching the City: A Guide for Students | UrbaChina

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Related posts.

Book Review: Passport to Peckham: Culture and Creativity in a London Village by Robert Hewison

August 24th, 2022.

Book Review: Hotels and Highways: The Construction of Modernization Theory in Cold War Turkey by Begüm Adalet

August 21st, 2018.

Book Review: The New Urban Question by Andy Merrifield

October 15th, 2014.

Reading List: 6 essential books on housing, homelessness, and the future of our cities

April 28th, 2014, subscribe via email.

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

• Find My Rep

You are here

Researching the City A Guide for Students

• Kevin Ward - University of Manchester, UK
• Description

This practical guide for students focuses on the city and on the different ways to research it. The authors explain how urban studies research is done, from the original idea to design and implementation, through to writing up and representation. Substantive chapters explain each method in detail, from using archival methods, interviews, ethnography, questionnaires, discourse analysis and diaries, to using GIS and visual methods. 

This second edition offers:

·            A thorough introduction to the research process  

·            Revised and updated discussions of foundational methods

·            A new chapter on sensory methods  

·            A new chapter on social media as an object or a method of studying the city.

With real world examples throughout and guided further reading for each chapter, it is an inspiring guide for students carrying out their own research in urban geography, urban planning, urban sociology and urban studies.

My copy of Researching the City is well worn and rarely sits still. As with all of the most valuable texts for teaching, it shuttles frequently between a shelf in my office and the hands of urban geography students who find it to be a highly accessible and useful guide.

Dr Tim Bunnell, Professor of Geography, National University of Singapore

This refreshingly honest and accessible book about the messiness of doing research is a boon for undergraduate students; a diving board into the urban, it propels students to explore a variety of methods to answer their research questions. Such a resource, updated and expanded, is a very welcome addition to the urban geographer’s library.

Professor Linda Peake is Director of the City Institute at York University, Toronto, Canada.

Preview this book

For instructors.

Please select a format:

Select a Purchasing Option

• Electronic Order Options VitalSource Amazon Kindle Google Play eBooks.com Kobo

Related Products

Center for Climate-Smart Transportation

The 15-Minute City Quantified Using Mobility Data:

National Investigation and Policy Implications

Principal Investigator(s): Carlo Ratti PhD , Paolo Santi PhD

Project Partners: MIT Senseable City Lab, VW Group of America, City of Boston

Research Project Funding: $144,040

Project Start and End Date: Oct 1 st , 2023 – September 30 st , 2024

Project Description: In response to social and environmental challenges faced by cities worldwide, policymakers are embracing the "15-minute city" planning model, positing that most human needs should be met within a short walk from home. The 15-minute city's popularity stems from rising congestion, air pollution, climate change, energy consumption, sprawl, and a loss of social interactions, motivating cities to aim for more livable, people-oriented spaces. This popular vision of urban living has taken many names and shapes, such as Paris's 15-Minute City, Portland's Complete 20-Minute, Charlotte's 10-Minute neighborhoods, and Melbourne's 20- Minute neighborhoods. Despite its rising popularity, there is currently no large-scale empirical evidence that can be used to measure exactly how aligned cities and neighborhoods are with the 15-minute vision and assess the distributional implications of advancing that vision. Moreover, there are rising concerns that the decentralization of economic activity and fostering of more inward-focused communities, especially in the context of sprawling and highly segregated North American cities, could exacerbate existing social divides and limit economic efficiency by disrupting the inter-neighborhood flows of people and ideas. In this project, PIs introduce a new measure to quantify local trip behavior using GPS data from 40 million mobile devices across the US. This study defines local usage as the share of trips made within 15 minutes of walking from home. Finally, PIs will test the hypothesis that fomenting 15-minute access and usage could increase the level of segregation in the city.

US DOT Priorities: This project fits well within the US DOT strategic goals of Climate and Sustainability , Equity and Transformation , aiming in a heightened understanding of the benefits of the 15-minute city concept, increased sustainability in urban and transportation planning, and more inclusive and accessible communities across the United States. This project contributes to CCST’s two focus areas including VMT & GHG Reduction via Modal Shift and Changes in Travel Behavior (Focus area 4) and Smart Cities & Innovative Adaptation and Mitigation Technologies (Focus Area 5).

Outputs: The dataset and methodology proposed in this project are novel and will provide the first data-driven evaluation of potential effects of 15-min planning in US cities. In addition to the final report, policy brief, conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications, PIs intend to develop a comprehensive website offering an interactive map showcasing accessibility and local usage data for all neighborhoods and cities across the United States. This website will serve as a valuable resource for public, decision-makers, as well as urban and transportation planners. By providing a visual representation of the alignment of neighborhoods with the principles of the 15-minute city, the website will facilitate a better understanding of the degree to which communities adhere to this concept. This understanding, in turn, will highlight neighborhoods that prioritize environmental sustainability and efficient resource utilization.

Outcomes/Impacts: For the website providing accessibility and local usage maps, the anticipated outcomes include increased awareness and understanding among the public, local decision-makers, and urban and transportation planners regarding the alignment of neighborhoods with the 15-minute city concept. PIs anticipate a substantial number of users interacting with the website in the initial months after launch. As part of research outputs, PIs will develop policy recommendations for fostering 15-minute city principles, and expected outcomes involve the adoption and integration of these recommendations into urban planning discussions and policy debates. The ultimate outcomes are a heightened understanding of the benefits of the 15-minute city concept, increased sustainability in urban planning, and more inclusive and accessible communities across the US. The tangible impacts will be measured by the engagement levels, policy discussions, and potential changes observed as a result of this research.

Research: The findings establish a foundation for future studies on accessible urban living and sustainable design. Policy: The outcomes inform evidence-based policies that prioritize walkability, influencing zoning laws and infrastructure investments. Community: Accessible and local usage maps empower communities to advocate for positive neighborhood changes, fostering engagement. Social Equity: Uncovering potential social segregation effects, the project provides evidence to inform more equitable urban planning decisions.

Perhaps the most enduring benefit of this project will be the widespread adoption of methodology for measuring accessibility, local usage, and experienced segregation. Researchers will likely rely on project’s measures to conduct subsequent studies. For example, current datasets (SafeGraph) do not allow researchers to distinguish the exact mode of travel. An intriguing follow-up study would involve utilizing other data sources that capture detailed travel modes from GPS traces. This approach would enhance our understanding of the individual contributions of different travel modes to the realization of the 15-minute city concept.

share this!

May 13, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

Research examines factors of resilient city development

by Higher Education Press

In recent years, with rapid urbanization, the global landscape of science and technology, industry, energy, and finance has undergone profound changes. Concurrently, emergencies or sudden events including natural disasters, human-induced disasters, and socio-economic crises are posing unrelenting threats to regional environment and security.

The concept of the "resilient city," as an important principle in contemporary urban planning, emphasizes that the capacity of urban systems to absorb the impacts and pressures caused by uncertain events while maintaining essential functions, structures, and characteristics.

The Resilient Cities Congress was initiated by ICLEI (International Council for Local Environment Initiatives)–Local Governments for Sustainability in 2010, as the first annual global forum dedicated to resilient cities studies.

In 2020, the Resilient Cities Congress was renamed the "Daring Cities," with the aim of building on the legacy of the Resilient Cities Congress series, enhancing the leadership role of governments, researchers, business leaders , and community organizers in urban decision-making process when responding to emergencies or sudden events, and forming new methods of urban governance and multi-stakeholder partnership models.

Drawing from the materials and scholarly work presented at these congresses, this research comprehensively reviews the evolution of resilient cities over the last decade through the lenses of policies and actions, summarizing the cutting-edge and current trends.

The work titled " From Resilient Cities Congress to Daring Cities: Policies, Actions, and Hot Trends of Resilient City Development " was published in the journal Landscape Architecture Frontiers .

Overall, the journey of global resilient cities unfolds in three phases of global commitment and framework establishment, path exploration and action, and experience translation and adaption. And after synthesizing the cases of global pioneering resilient city and regional construction cases from the Daring Cities, the experience of resilience actions can be summarized in five aspects:

• Multi-level governance and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
• Developing circular economy, and financing resilience and insuring cities.
• Nature-based solutions.
• Equal opportunities and access to basic services.
• Open data and strong data governance capability.

Throughout the previous Resilient Cities Congress series, the development of resilient cities in the past decade has evolved from theoretical exploration, framework establishment, and formulation of target strategies towards the implementation of regional and local actions and follow-up assessment, while integrating theoretical research into political decision-making that has in turn driven the progress of urban sustainable development.

Nowadays, with the development of big data and analytics technology, the construction of resilient cities not only requires deepening implementation at economic and social aspects, but also necessitates a series of effective measures in the field of cyber resilience to seize opportunities and mitigate risks, where information technology can and will play a vital role.

Looking ahead, it is crucial to further promote local resilience actions and practices, and to put more effort in filling the gaps of empirical research on resilient cities. It is of great practical significance to translate international resilience development results and action experience into localized efforts both in theory and practice at the national, regional, and city scales, so as to promote the full implementation of climate action and resilience building worldwide.

Provided by Higher Education Press

Explore further

Feedback to editors

Tiger beetles fight off bat attacks with ultrasonic mimicry

2 hours ago

Machine learning model uncovers new drug design opportunities

6 hours ago

Astronomers find the biggest known batch of planet ingredients swirling around young star

How 'glowing' plants could help scientists predict flash drought

New GPS-based method can measure daily ice loss in Greenland

7 hours ago

New candidate genes for human male infertility found by analyzing gorillas' unusual reproductive system

8 hours ago

Study uncovers technologies that could unveil energy-efficient information processing and sophisticated data security

Scientists develop an affordable sensor for lead contamination

Chemists succeed in synthesizing a molecule first predicted 20 years ago

New optical tweezers can trap large and irregularly shaped particles

Relevant physicsforums posts, the secrets of prof. verschure's rosetta stones.

May 9, 2024

A very puzzling rock or a pallasite / mesmosiderite or a nothing burger

May 8, 2024

M 4.8 - Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, US

What is global warming due to, large eruption at ruang volcano, indonesia.

May 2, 2024

Tidal friction and global warming

Apr 20, 2024

More from Earth Sciences

Related Stories

Are sponge cities a solution to growing urban flooding problems?

Oct 5, 2022

What next after 100 Resilient Cities funding ends?

Jun 6, 2019

Building African cities that cope with climate shocks—experts outline what it will take

Nov 30, 2023

Turning to nature to improve vital water treatment

Apr 22, 2024

Transforming urban sustainability: New study reveals cities' crucial contribution to meeting decarbonization goals

Aug 31, 2023

Defining a city using cell-phone data

Apr 5, 2024

Recommended for you

2023 was the hottest summer in 2,000 years, study finds

10 hours ago

How wildfires change soil chemistry

11 hours ago

Chemical analysis of natural CO₂ rise over the last 50,000 years shows that today's rate is 10 times faster

New study examines the price tag of phasing-out coal

Let us know if there is a problem with our content.

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

• Industry Research
• Low-Wage Work

Evaluating the Impact of Project Labor Agreements on the Cost of Affordable Housing Projects: Proposition HHH in Los Angeles

The effect of Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on construction costs has been a source of debate for a long time. This research note evaluates the impact of PLAs on the costs of affordable housing construction projects under Proposition HHH in Los Angeles, making it a critical case study given the city’s efforts to address homelessness. Drawing on empirical data from completed projects, we employ a methodological approach that contrasts with previous studies by using actual total development costs. Results indicate no statistically significant relationship between the use of PLAs and the actual development costs of Proposition HHH projects, suggesting that PLAs did not lead to per-unit cost increases. We acknowledge the need for a multifaceted evaluation of PLAs, considering factors such as workforce unionization, their impact on non-residential spaces, and the duration of the approval process. Additionally, we emphasize the broader benefits of PLAs, including enhanced cost efficiency, improved work quality, and broader economic impacts, which should be factored into a comprehensive assessment.

Download the full report.

CityU Scholars A Research Hub of Excellence

System upgrade will be carried out on 13 May 2024 (MON) from 9:00 pm to 10:00 pm (HK Time) . The system will not be available during this period.

• Researchers
• Research Units
• Research Output
• Prizes/Honours
• Student Theses
• Press/Media

Find Projects

• Office of the President
• Office of the Vice-President (Administration)
• Office of the Provost and Deputy President
• Office of the Senior Vice-President (Innovation and Enterprise)
• Office of the Vice-President (Mainland Strategy)
• Office of the Vice-President (Research)
• Office of the Vice-President (Talent and International Strategy)
• Department of Accountancy
• Department of Economics and Finance
• Department of Information Systems
• Department of Management
• Department of Management Sciences
• Department of Marketing
• Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
• Department of Biomedical Engineering
• Department of Computer Science
• Department of Electrical Engineering
• Department of Materials Science and Engineering
• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Department of Systems Engineering
• Chan Feng Men-ling Chan Shuk-lin Language Centre
• Department of Chinese and History
• Department of English
• Department of Linguistics and Translation
• Department of Media and Communication
• Department of Public and International Affairs
• Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Department of Biostatistics
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Physics
• Department of Biomedical Sciences
• Department of Infectious Diseases and Public Health
• Department of Neuroscience
• Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences
• School of Creative Media
• School of Data Science
• School of Energy and Environment
• School of Law
• Chow Yei Ching School of Graduate Studies
• Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study
• Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy
• Hong Kong Institute for Data Science
• Centre for Judicial Education and Research cum Identification of Hong Kong Law
• Centre for Nature-Inspired Engineering
• Centre for Neutron Scattering
• Centre of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films
• Liu Bie Ju Centre for Mathematical Sciences
• State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (City University of Hong Kong)
• State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves (City University of Hong Kong)
• Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center
• Ability R&D Energy Research Centre
• Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy
• Centre for Advanced Structural Materials
• Centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media
• Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology
• Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law
• Centre for Communication Research
• Centre for Complexity and Complex Networks
• Centre for Functional Photonics
• Centre for Robotics and Automation
• Centre for System Informatics Engineering
• Fintech and Business Analytics Centre
• Low-Carbon and Climate Impact Research Centre
• Multimedia Software Engineering Research Centre
• Research Centre on One-Belt-One-Road
• Southeast Asia Research Centre
• The Halliday Centre for Intelligent Applications of Language Studies
• Center for Advanced Nuclear Safety and Sustainable Development
• Centre for Animal Health and Welfare
• Centre for Applied One Health Research and Policy Advice
• Centre for Decentralized Trust Computing
• Centre for Innovative Applications of Internet and Multimedia Technologies
• Centre for Public Affairs and Law
• Centre for Smart Energy Conversion and Utilization Research
• Centre on Global Internet Finance
• Hong Kong Commercial and Maritime Law Centre
• Research Centre for Sustainable Hong Kong
• Tung Biomedical Sciences Centre
• Advanced Intelligent Information Systems Research Centre
• Architecture and Civil Engineering Research Centre
• Biotechnology & Health Centre
• CityU Center on Neutron Scattering
• CityU Research Centre on Optical Fibre Sensing and Communications
• Information and Communication Technology Centre
• Research Centre for Oceans and Human Health
• Laboratory Animal Research Unit
• Joint Laboratory for Robotic Research
• Joint Laboratory of Nano-organic Functional Materials and Devices
• Joint Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanomechanics
• Joint Laboratory on Neutron Scattering
• Chengdu Research Institute
• CityU Matter Research Institute (Futian)
• Dongguan Research Institute
• Institute of Digital Medicine
• Laboratory of Wearable Materials for Healthcare
• Research Centre for Treatments of Brain Disorders
• Shenzhen Research Institute
• USTC-CityU Joint Advanced Research Centre (Suzhou)
• Run Run Shaw Library
• School of Continuing and Professional Education

ECF: Environment and Conservation Fund Eco-friendly High-performance Concrete with Multiple Performance Requirements by Utilizing Recycled Powder and Recycled Aggregate from C&D Waste

JIAO, D. & LU, G.

1/10/24 → …

Project : Research

ECF: Environment and Conservation Fund Real-time Estimation and Prediction of Indoor Bioaerosol Concentrations Using Artificial Intelligence and Computational Fluid Dynamics

LEE, P. K. H. & NGAN, K.

1/09/24 → …

HMRF: Develop Clinical Molecular and pH Imaging for Stroke Diagnosis at 3T Human Scanner

CHAN, W. Y. K. , HUANG, J. & LAU, K. K. G.

1/08/24 → …

CRF: CILo: Cellular Indoor Localization

WU, D. , CHAN, G. S. H., Li, B., WANG, J. , Xing, G. & YIN, Z.

30/06/24 → …

CRF: Construction Skill Transfer Learning for Smooth Worker-robot Collaboration in Dynamic and Uncertain Workplaces

YU, Y. & LUO, X.

CRF: Controllable Activation of Anticancer Prodrugs in vivo

ZHU, G. , BABAK, M. , HE, M. , KONG, F. S., SUN, J., ZHANG, W. & CHEN, X.

CRF: High Spatiotemporal Resolution Scanning Electron Microscope Facility for Multimodal Dynamic Imaging in Materials Science and Physics

ZHONG, X. , CHAI, Y. , CHEN, F. , JEN, A. , LEI, D. , LI, J. , Li, Q., LI, L. J., LIU, Q. & ROGACH, A.

CRF: Knowledge-Driven Digital Twin Networking for Autonomous Driving

WANG, J. , Guo, S., LIANG, W. , QI, X., SONG, L. & WU, D.

YCRG: Electrification and Decarbonization: Multi-port Wireless Dock and Charge for Waterborne Transportation

JIANG, C. , TSE, C. K. , WANG, Y. & YU, X.

1/06/24 → …

RIF: Enhancing Energy Harvesting and Typhoon Resilience of Offshore Wind Turbines in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area under Climate Change

LI, Q. , CHAN, P. W., DENG, X., DONG, Y., HE, J. , KAREEM, A., SUN, W., XIA, Y. & ZHU, R.

ECF: Environment and Conservation Fund Development of Sustainable Green Structural Concrete via Effective Utilization of Waste Glass and Basalt Fiber

Ecf: environment and conservation fund recycling of end-of-life silicon photovoltaic modules for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries.

XU, J. & ZHU, Z.

CRF: Fundamental Understanding on Stability for Halide Perovskite Electronics: from Materials Design to Device Engineering

ZHU, Z. , LI, M., LU, H., Lu, X. & ZENG, X.

CRF: Fundamental Understanding on Stability for Halide Perovskite Electronics: from Materials Designto Device Engineering

Rif: integrating chatgpt with search engine, recommender system and online advertising to enhance user experience on online service platforms.

ZHAO, X. , KING, I. K. C., LI, Y. D. , Li, Q., QIN, S. Z. J. & Xu, J.

Introducing Our 2024 Early Stage Urban Research Award Recipients

The Boston University Initiative on Cities (IOC) is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of our 10th request for proposals for the Early Stage Urban Research Awards. These seed grants support early-stage academic research endeavors focused on urban challenges and urban populations, both domestic and global. This year’s seed grant cycle is the second to operate under our Urban H-index research agenda, with particular interests in health, heat, and housing research, and to provide much more funding for each project than in previous cycles. Out of a large pool of applications, the selection committee of professors from across different disciplines on campus and IOC staff selected 3 projects to fund for this cycle!

Building Resilience after Redlining: Understanding the Cumulative Impact of Heat Vulnerability Factors in Massachusetts

Urban-H Themes: Housing, Heat, Health

PIs: Greg Wellenius , Professor, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, & Chad Milando , Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health

Co-PIs: Kipruto Kirwa , Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, & Emma Gause , Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health

Coping with Extreme Heat: Intersecting Vulnerabilities Related to Urban Heat Islands, Homelessness, and Serious Mental Illness

Co-PI: Amruta Nori-Sarma , Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health

Project Description: Periods of extreme heat, which are increasing in frequency due to climate change, have been linked to adverse mental health outcomes, including symptoms related to schizophrenia, substance use, mood disorders, and suicide. At heightened risk for negative effects of extreme heat are individuals experiencing homelessness, who have higher rates of serious mental illness than the general population, and who may not have consistent access to reliable shelter, air-conditioned spaces, cool showers, or other common methods for adapting to heat. Our project seeks to understand better how adults with serious mental illness who are also experiencing homelessness manage during periods of extreme heat and the unique barriers they face in adapting to this increasingly common aspect of climate change. We will conduct qualitative interviews with adults experiencing homelessness who are receiving psychiatric emergency services in a community crisis stabilization center serving publicly insured and uninsured individuals primarily from neighborhoods in Boston identified as urban heat islands. The results from our study will directly inform the development of novel interventions and policies that address the needs of those most vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change. 

Housing and Neighborhood Determinants of Sleep and Mental Health in Low-Income Toddlers and their Parents

PIs: Amanda Tarullo , Associate Professor, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, & Sarah Watamura , Professor & Chair of Psychology, University of Denver

Co-PIs: Shaina Brady , Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences, & Arcadia Ewell , Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, College of Arts & Sciences

• ABOUT/CONTACT
• CONTRIBUTORS
• MEDIA COVERAGE
• NYIT MAGAZINE
• NYIT.EDU HOME

Students Impress In 2024 UREP Project Presentations

• Related Topics

May 14, 2024

Pictured from left: Angily Ally, Ishaan Singh, Isha Kaur, Associate Professor Cecilia Dong, Mekan Agahanov present their poster “A Study on the Current Effects of Flash Floods in NYC on Electric Vehicle Infrastructure.”

Undergraduate student research continues to thrive at New York Tech, with the 30 College of Engineering and Computing Sciences students showcasing their projects on May 9 as part of the Undergraduate Research and Entrepreneurship Program (UREP) providing the most recent evidence.

Presenting their projects on topics ranging from developing green roofing systems for urban agriculture and using AI in dentistry to building robots to mitigate unsolved home invasions, studying the impact of flash floods on electric vehicles in New York City, and much more, the eight teams comprising students from both New York campuses highlighted the findings of their group research or entrepreneurship projects conducted under the guidance of faculty mentors. UREP provides each team with $500 to cover the cost of supplies and materials; the projects can run for a single semester or extend to multiple semesters for teams pursuing further development. 

Since the spring of 2018, more than 300 students have participated in this program established by Associate Professor Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D. , who welcomed faculty, staff, students, and other attendees to the seventh annual event.   

Addressing the student participants, Dean Babak D. Beheshti, Ph.D. , said, “All of you have had a chance to work closely with the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences faculty in an undergraduate research project, which is a really valuable experience for you personally and professionally, and an amazing thing to put on your résumé for whatever pursuit that you have in mind after graduation.”  

Teams featured undergraduate students, ranging from first through fourth year, and from programs including computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering. Most teams were co-ed. Presented projects included:

2024 UREP Projects and Teams

• Comparative Study of Hydroponic Plant-Disease Detection Systems Team members: Joseann Boneo, Best Justus, Alysar Tabet Faculty mentor: Houwei Cao, Ph.D.
• Identifying Dental Cavities from X-Ray Images Using Cnn Team members: Sarah Allrozamo, Tanuza Abdin, Hannah Ocampo Faculty mentor: Huanying (Helen) Gu, Ph.D.
• Thermoacoustic Refrigeration Team members: Sheikh Ahmar, Jericho Lee, Ernesto Rosas Romero Faculty mentor: James Scire, Ph.D.
• Home Invasion Detection and Preventio Team members: Shan Caballes, Dani Gulino, D’ron Strapp, T’ron Strapp Faculty mentor: Kirti Mishra, Ph.D.
• Level Crossing Analog to Digital Converter Representation Using Chebyshev Polynomials Team members: Pavan Kanakkassery, Emilio Santana-Ferro, Damian Sarjudas Faculty mentor: N. Sertac Artan, Ph.D.
• AI Detection in Creative Writing Team members: Elijah Ewers, Vighanesh Gaund, Cheuk Tung Ho, Wedad Mortada, Tanat Sahta   Faculty mentor: Wenjia Li, Ph.D.
• Interactive Visualization Tool for NYC Open Data Team members: Ali Elshehawi, Ali Khachab, Guang Wei Too, Alan Yuan Faculty mentor: Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.
• A Study on the Current Effects of Flash Floods in NYC on Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Team members: Mekan Agahanov, Angily Ally, Isha Kaur, Ishaan Singh Faculty mentor: Ziqian (Cecilia) Dong, Ph.D.

Beheshti noted that the variety and depth of the projects speak to the hard work that the teams have put in. He recognized and thanked the faculty mentors and reiterated to the students the importance of this experience gained by “handling an open-ended problem, outside of your classroom, that you owned, and you managed to take from an idea to a concept” and beyond.

By Libby Sullivan

More Features

May 13, 2024

Health Professions Students Shine at Aletheia

May 10, 2024

Alumni Contributing Expertise to BRIIC Construction

May 09, 2024

MayFest 2024

By continuing to use the website, you consent to analytics tracking per NYIT's Privacy Statement Accept Cookies

The Glade Dam Spillway is designed to retain and store drinking water, a precious commodity in eastern Colorado, where water availability can be scarce. The spillway has a unique configuration in which overflow water from a reservoir must be turned sharply, so it can be sent down a chute to a pumping basin. Engineers at IIHR–Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa helped refine the spillway design by testing different heights of baffles, the vertical barriers used to calm and smooth out the water, so water turns the corner and does not spill out of the chute.

Clients near and far seek IIHR expertise on water projects

IIHR–Hydroscience & Engineering at the University of Iowa is an internationally renowned laboratory where researchers are solving some of our world’s greatest fluids-related challenges. IIHR engineers build small-scale models of projects in their warehouse-sized facilities, ensuring through design and testing that everything works exactly as it should before the project is built.

In this photo gallery by Office of Strategic Communication photographer Tim Schoon, IIHR engineers designed and built scale models of a complex water-retention and storage system for municipal, agricultural, and other major water users in eastern Colorado, where water supply can fluctuate. IIHR engineers also are testing the efficacy and efficiency of a new pump station that will be added to the Cedar Rapids Water Pollution Control Facilities on the southeast side of that city.

UI seeks permission to plan new hydroscience research building to grow program

University of Iowa key partner in $360M national water consortium