Projects

The aim of this three stage project is to help accelerate awareness and take-up of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the New Urban Agenda (NUA) worldwide among individuals and groups in the urban professions, education and civil society.

The American Lead Map is a collaborative community-based research initiative to create the nation's first crowd-sourced open online map identifying toxic lead hazards in American cities, integrating data from cities in all 50 states and Puerto Rico.

This research consortium aims to address the challenges and opportunities within the informal transport and shared mobility (ISM) sector in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Recognizing the vital role of ISM in providing access to services, opportunities, and goods, especially for lower-income residents in informal settlements, the project focuses on improving access, services, working conditions, and emissions in this sector.

What would smart sustainable transport look like in the case of Nairobi, East Africa’s largest metropolis and economic hub? In particular, which cultural, political and technological access points might improve the existing public transportation system and how can citizens -- particularly the poorer majority -- be more involved in shaping and designing solutions to transportation issues in their cities?

Through research analysis, policy dialogues, and public education, Mobility Futures examined how new transportation technologies (including connected, automated, shared, and electric mobility options) are reshaping cities, and how proactive policies can create more sustainable and equitable transportation systems.

Our work is directed towards the establishment of integrated and inclusive metropolitan planning that will result in the creation of sustainable and equitable urban development.

A traveling exhibition, People Building Better Cities consisted of 23 panels, and was shown in ten countries and 18 cities between 2013-15, including at World Urban Forum 7 in Medellin, Colombia and at the Union of International Architects Congress in Durban, South Africa.

Devastation caused by earthquakes in February 2023 in the south-eastern region of Turkey underscored the need for better urban risk management systems and protective governance. Immense destruction across cities and towns despite the existence of regulatory frameworks to guide construction and urban development, pointed to the need for a new urban risk management approach in Turkey that is based on a multi-stakeholder awareness raising and capacity building, as well as a multi-hazard approach for risks that are often complex and compounding.

The Resilient Coastal Communities Project seeks to foster actionable, equitable solutions to flood risks along with complementary benefits like habitat restoration, job creation and more empowered communities.

An overarching goal is to inform the underlying value system, operating model, research, and curriculum of the Earth Institute and the Columbia University Climate School and beyond to make our institutions more responsive to the critical, urgent social and environmental demands of this moment. We also support the direct application of climate just approaches to the implementation of urban policy, advocacy, planning, and programs.

This collaborative project of CSUD, the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, and The American Assembly, examines historic preservation as a sustainable and socially-inclusive urban policy tool. It has been generously funded by the New York Community Trust.