Advocacy & Civic Engagement

News | August 14, 2019

‘Vehicle ranching’ in Seattle: Inside the underground market of renting RVs to homeless people

Richard Winn considered himself a decent landlord, particularly in a cutthroat rental market like Seattle’s. Sometimes his tenants did not pay their $75 weekly rent, and weren’t required to sign a lease or put down a deposit. But there were trade-offs. Winn never gave residents keys to their units. Tenants were not to use the…

News | April 4, 2024

‘Work of passion:’ How Catalina Velasquez’s life led her to immigrant rights advocacy

Originally reported in The Washington State Standard by Grace Deng. Ask Catalina Velasquez anything about queer, feminist immigrant rights. She’ll have an answer. Velasquez heads Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, which is the largest immigrant-led coalition in Washington, alongside Brenda Rodriguez Lopez. A refugee from Colombia herself, Velasquez was the first transgender Latina appointed as a…

News | April 19, 2022

2022 PhD Symposium explores the digital dimensions of urban dynamics

Pathways toward the future: Assessing the digital dimensions of urban dynamics Who is building the cities of the future? For whom are they being built? Can big data, smart cities, and other emerging technologies contribute to a sustainable and equitable world? As we move deeper into the information age, technology has gained renewed relevance as…

News | September 14, 2022

2022 Urban@UW Spark Grants Awardees Announced

Urban@UW is excited to announce awardees for the third round of funding through our Spark Grants program. The three projects selected address critical urban challenges, with a focus on transdisciplinary scholarship and engagement with vulnerable populations. Analysis of a Food Bank Home Delivery Program Food security, defined as access at all times to nutritious food,…

News | May 2, 2023

2023 PhD Symposium: Place, Space, and Belonging

The College of Built Environments has announced that the 2023 PhD Symposium will be held on May 19.  Titled “Place, Space, and Belonging,” the symposium will feature research from scholars around the world on topics such as phenomenology, environment, transportation, housing, and trauma-informed design. Attendees are invited to attend in person in Gould Court, or…

News | October 18, 2018

4 fresh ideas to ease Seattle’s coming traffic nightmare

Seattle is doomed — at least in terms of its traffic for at least the next three years. Already, morning and evening gridlock seems to start earlier and end later. I-5 through downtown is nearly always jammed up. Overloaded buses wait through multiple light cycles attempting to inch through intersections at rush hour. And it’s…

News | June 26, 2024

A Biochar Solution for Urban Runoff

Written by Julia Davis for the University of Washington In cities around the globe, stormwater runoff remains largely untreated, collecting everything from heavy metals to pesticides before flowing into our waterways. This environmental challenge requires innovative solutions, and biochar may just be the key. CEE Assistant Professor Jessica Ray and graduate student Amy Quintanilla are…

News | March 10, 2018

A Homeless Camp in Our Back Yard? Please, a University Says

For months, 65 homeless people lived in tents they set up in a parking lot behind the Seattle Pacific University bookstore, with a row of portable toilets and layers of clothes to guard against the damp chill of winter. It was a homeless camp like so many that crop up along roads and ramshackle lots…

News | March 19, 2024

A New ‘Holy Grail’ in the Housing Crisis: Statewide Rent Caps

Reported in The New York Times by David W. Chen As housing costs soar, Washington State wants to limit annual rent increases to 7 percent. Oregon and California have passed similar measures.   With her husband struggling at times to find work, Ms. Horn has maxed out her credit cards to keep pace with the…

News | November 1, 2022

A new approach, not currently described by the Clean Air Act, could eliminate air pollution disparities

While air quality has improved dramatically over the past 50 years thanks in part to the Clean Air Act, people of color at every income level in the United States are still exposed to higher-than-average levels of air pollution. A team led by researchers at the University of Washington wanted to know if the Clean…

News | July 22, 2024

A week of nonstop breaking political news stumps AI chatbots

Reported by Heather Kelly For The Washington Post In the hour after President Biden announced he would withdraw from the 2024 campaign on Sunday, most popular AI chatbots seemed oblivious to the news. Asked directly whether he had dropped out, almost all said no or declined to give an answer. Asked who was running for…

Scholar

Aaron Luoma

News | August 3, 2023

Access to Culturally Relevant and Healthy Foods Is Critical to Improving Health Equity in Seattle

For several months, Priyasha Maharjan traveled with a translator to the homes of Seattle Afghan community members. She’d remove her shoes, greet the women who welcomed her into their homes, and then watch them cook dinner. Maharjan ate with families, asked them about their recipes, and listened as they told stories about their search for…

News | June 7, 2016

Access To Nature In Urban Areas Is Key To Healthier Living

Mental illnesses and mood disorders are more prevalent in urban areas partly due to reduced access to nature, according to a new study. Researchers probed the rising tension between the critical role of urban areas and these cities’ debilitating aspects that disconnect people from nature – and even raise mental illnesses. “There’s an enormous amount…

Map | New York

Accidental Skyline NYC

Too often, New Yorkers are caught off guard by new development in their neighborhoods. The Accidental Skyline offers tools to help demystify the city planning process and bring the public into the conversation.

News | June 26, 2015

Achieving Inclusivity in Visions of a Better Urban Future by Lynne Manzo

Presented at June 1st Urban@UW Launch Meeting

News | May 29, 2021

Acknowledging AAPI Heritage Month

Originally written by Adela Mu, Masters of Urban Planning Candidate ’22. Note: This was written with a UDP and Seattle audience in mind. It represents only the partial perspective of the author, not that of any other person in UDP or UDP as a whole. There is far too much to say on this topic…

Research Beyond UW | University of Pennsylvania

Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy

The principal aim of Actionable Intelligence for Social Policy (AISP) is to improve the quality of education, health and human service agencies’ policies and practices through the use of integrated data systems. Quality integrated data systems are designed to help executive leaders in municipal, county, and state government evaluate and establish effective programs for the…

News | November 23, 2020

Addressing homelessness: UW to welcome back Tent City 3 for winter quarter 2021

Homelessness is a crisis in Washington and across the U.S. Last year, an annual count revealed that in King County alone, 11,200 people reported being homeless at the time of the survey. The numbers have only increased during the pandemic. As one part of its response to this population health crisis, the University of Washington will welcome back Tent…

Research Beyond UW | University of Cape Town

African Centre for Cities

The African Centre for Cities (ACC) is an interdisciplinary research and teaching programme focused on quality scholarship regarding the dynamics of unsustainable urbanisation processes in Africa, with an eye on identifying systemic responses. Rapid and poorly governed urbanization in Africa points to a profound developmental and philosophical crisis. Most scholarship focuses on the development challenges…

News | September 1, 2020

After push from Native organizations, King County will add tribal affiliations to its homelessness database

For the first time since government officials began collecting data on the thousands of people living homeless in King County, a new category on people’s tribal affiliations will soon be added to the system. The move comes after a years-long push from Native homeless service providers to collect better information on Native people in the county’s federally mandated homelessness database. In recent years, these providers have demanded…

News | August 4, 2020

After two months of protests, Seattle activists say work not done

The mass protests against police brutality and for racial equity that have dominated Seattle and the nation for the past two months are like few others in American history — a sustained, daily movement, in major cities, sleepy suburbs and rural towns, with no central organizing hub, driven by social media and word-of-mouth. Locally, the…

News | February 1, 2022

Air pollution from planes, roads infiltrates schools and can be dramatically reduced with portable air filters

What started as a University of Washington-led project to measure air pollution near Sea-Tac International Airport has led to schools in the area installing portable air filters to improve indoor air quality. First, UW researchers found they were able to parse aircraft pollution from roadway pollution in the communities under Sea-Tac International Airport flight paths and map…

Scholar

Alan Borning

Center & Lab

Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute

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Scholar

Alexandra Harmon

Scholar

Alma Khasawnih

Funding

Amazon Catalyst Grant

Amazon Catalyst’s goal is to help people develop solutions to key problems faced in the world today. Problems can be diverse, from computer security, to immigration, to climate change. Because issues like these are complex, solutions will come from many different fields and many different perspectives. Therefore, the grants are open to all disciplines, including…

Funding

Amazon Web Services Imagine Grant Program

This program's goal is to empower nonprofit organizations to prioritize technology as a mission-critical component of their projects and to provide support for organizations pursuing technology-driven goals. As part of the program, we are seeking proposals for pilot projects, proofs of concept, strategic technology planning, or existing programs that utilize technology in a new or…

Scholar

Amoshaun Toft

Scholar

Amy Hagopian

News | July 6, 2018

An interactive ‘storymap’ of trees in South King County

If a tree falls in the course of urban development and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? A new art project based in South King County aims to ensure the answer is yes — and the sound is a cacophony of arboreal anecdotes. “My goal is to create a…

Scholar

Anaid Yerena

Scholar

Anne Taufen

News | September 26, 2022

Annual letter recaps urban efforts across UW, beyond

As we all head into another autumn and academic year under the COVID-19 pandemic, Urban@UW wishes to acknowledge the ongoing impacts of this and so many other acute and chronic drivers of struggle, inequality and injustice. Along with the uncertainty, loss, and weariness, we also acknowledge this community’s perseverance and commitment to co-creating cities that…

Degree Program

Anthropology (BA, BS)

Anthropology is one of those rare fields that touches on all others. It is not a "conveyor belt" to a specific job, but, rather, an avenue to reach many possible career paths. Anthropologists today don't just work in exotic locals, but are making significant contributions right here at home. They can be found working in…

Degree Program

Anthropology of Globalization

Anthropology of Globalization is a new and exciting option in the Anthropology Major that explores several aspects of today’s interconnected world, including, economic exchanges, new media, human migration, and circulating knowledge. Unique to our program is a focus not only on contemporary multicultural and global exchanges, but also the deep history of such processes over…

Center & Lab

Applied Research Consortium

The Applied Research Consortium (ARC) is rooted in the idea that collaboration across academia and industry will accelerate progress in our fields. ARC brings together an interdisciplinary group of built environment firms with faculty experts and graduate student researchers at the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments (CBE) to address the most vexing challenges…

Center & Lab

Applied Research Consortium

The Applied Research Consortium (ARC) connects students, faculty, and industry partners for applied research. ARC brings together research, practice, and education; generates new ideas and solutions for the built environment; supports diversity and intercultural skills among student fellows; and enhances impact and connections for academic and firm partners alike.

News | September 29, 2020

Applied Research Fellows develop tool to explore population changes in King County

The 2020 Population Health Applied Research Fellows concluded their 10-week program to produce small area population forecasts at the Census tract and Health Reporting Area levels by sex, race, ethnicity and five-year age groups for King County from 2020 to 2045. Their findings, which were presented to staff from a variety of King County departments,…

News | August 9, 2024

Are we on the brink of a tax revolt in Washington state?

Reported by Joshua McNichols for KUOW/NPR News Cities all over the region have big property tax levies on the ballot this year. There’s a transportation levy in Seattle, a levy to modernize the fire department in Tacoma, and a levy to pay for public safety and libraries in Everett. Increasingly, elected officials rely on these…

Funding

Arnold Ventures

Arnold Ventures funds efforts to understand problems and identify policy solutions. Our giving centers on issues in Criminal Justice, Health, Education, and Public Finance, and is guided by Evidence-Based Policy, Research, and Advocacy. We have supported more than 1,000 projects since we began in 2010.

Map | Berlin

Arriving in Berlin

This map seeks to provide useful information for newcomers in Berlin and is especially meant to support refugees. “Arriving in Berlin” is a mapping project, byHaus Leo, Wohnen für Flüchtlinge (Berliner Stadtmission) and Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

News | April 3, 2017

As Central District gets whiter, new barriers to health care

Last week while lawmakers in Washington, D.C., were gnashing their teeth over what health insurance in the U.S. should look like, patients and providers in King County were wrestling with some of the same challenges they faced before the Affordable Care Act was in place.   In 2014, students in King County who are black,…

News | December 3, 2019

As more people use RVs as homes, should cities find a place for them?

Graham Pruss is familiar with the trials and tribulations of living out of an RV. As part of his research for his anthropology PhD at the University of Washington in Seattle, Pruss bought and lived in an RV for five months. Within the first 12 hours of doing so, he says, police issued him tickets and former…

News | September 14, 2020

At center of police defunding debate, King County Equity Now and Decriminalize Seattle reimagine public safety

Thousands of activists and community leaders gathered June 5 in front of the decommissioned Fire Station 6 to discuss the future of Seattle. The 1930s building represented a juncture in the Central District’s past and present: Its art deco façade stood at the corner of a once-thriving Black neighborhood dating back to the 1800s that, largely due…

News | September 2, 2016

August Sees New Grants, Project Launches, and Original Research and Writing

August was a busy month at the University of Washington and the Seattle region when it comes to urban research, writing, and project launches. Take a look at what’s been happening. Urban@UW will be running a half-day workshop as part of the Eighth International Conference on Social Informatics (SocInfo 2016.) Our workshop seeks to bring…

News | April 30, 2019

Bellingham considers expanding city limits eastward

Students from the University of Washington are helping conduct an annexation study in Bellingham. The City of Bellingham is partnering with a team of student researchers from UW’s Master of Urban Planning program to assess the interest of residents in Bellingham’s eastern Urban Growth Areas regarding possible annexation to the City. The plan is to provide community…

Scholar

Benjamin de Haan

News | October 23, 2017

Best answer to Seattle affordability may win the race for mayor

The rising cost of housing is a dominant issue in Seattle’s mayoral election, but political messaging – on trust, results and leadership – could also move voters in the race between Jenny Durkan and Cary Moon.It’s a race away from a scandal and a race to become Seattle’s first woman mayor in about 90 years,…

News | June 11, 2024

Bird Flu Tests Are Hard To Get. So How Will We Know When To Sound The Pandemic Alarm?

Reported by Kaiser Health News for  Patch PALO ALTO, CA — Stanford University infectious disease doctor Abraar Karan has seen a lot of patients with runny noses, fevers, and irritated eyes lately. Such symptoms could signal allergies, covid, or a cold. This year, there’s another suspect, bird flu — but there’s no way for most…

News | August 3, 2020

Black pastors and activists want Central District land as reparations

In the midst of ongoing protests against police brutality and the death of George Floyd, Black communities in the Seattle area have begun a push for bigger, more long-term actions toward overcoming the poverty created by decades of racist policies. “We need reparations for our Black and brown communities,” said Pastor Angela Ying of Bethany…

News | September 7, 2022

Boost in Support for Black-Owned Restaurants Short-Lived, UW Study Finds

A new study from the University of Washington found much of the outpouring of customer support for Black-owned restaurants during the summer of 2020 was short-lived. As Black Lives Matter protests sparked calls for racial justice and equity in the weeks and months following the murder of George Floyd, tech companies including Yelp, Instagram, Google…

Scholar

Branden Born

Scholar

Brian Coffey

Scholar

Brian Gerich

Funding

Bridge Funding Program

The University of Washington Provost’s Office provides bridge funding to support faculty to span the gap in critical research programs. Applications from faculty should be submitted to the applicant’s department chair, who should prioritize requests before forwarding them to the dean of the college/school. In non-departmentalized colleges/schools, applications should be submitted to the dean or…

Funding

Bruner Foundation – The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) is a national urban design award that seeks to promote innovative thinking about the built environment and advance conversation about making cities better. The award discovers and celebrates urban places that are distinguished by quality design along with their social and economic contributions to our nation’s cities.

News | January 23, 2024

Building community resilience: A $2 million NSF grant will transform disaster response

Amy Sprague January 16, 2024 “Our advantage of being an interdisciplinary project at the University of Washington is that we are drawing from an excellent corps of researchers with complementary expertise at a University whose mission includes working for the greater good across the state of Washington and has excellent ties into our communities.” Professor…

News | August 1, 2019

Burien takes a new, compassionate approach to criminal justice

At a time when angst about homelessness, drugs and other causes of arrests seems to have reached a breaking point in the region, King County officials are expanding a number of key programs meant to tackle some of society’s stickiest problems. Instead of delving further into the urban core, though, these new programs are being launched in…

News | February 12, 2021

Campaign: TC3 stay at UW

Tent City Collective, a group of UW students, alumni, community members, and people experiencing homelessness, are working with UW faculty and staff to bring Tent City 3 to the university for the second time since 2017. Tent City 3 is a self-governing community designed to shelter and aid people without homes around Seattle. Their mission…

News | November 19, 2019

Can Amazon shake its suburban mindset and become a responsible urban citizen?

What kind of urban citizen is Amazon going to be? High tech companies are traditionally a suburban phenomenon, and the burbs have been a gentler place for expansion than the heart of a city. The prototype, of course, is Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco, and Seattle’s Eastside. In such places tech companies could sprawl,…

News | February 8, 2018

Cascadia showcases how a coordinated corridor strategy can reinforce urban innovation

A central premise of Meeting of the Minds is that the flexibility, practicality, and focus of municipal governments make them ideal technological and social innovators. But can the ingenuity of U.S. cities be sufficiently amplified to effectively keep up with the pace of climate change, especially in the face of declining federal leadership? Answering this…

News | August 31, 2022

CBE Research Team Measures Health and Happiness at Dune Peninsula

On a little peninsula in Tacoma, Washington, a native prairie grows on a remediated toxic waste site. Paths loop around the 11-acre property, known these days as Dune Peninsula at Point Defiance Park, giving visitors up-close and personal experiences with a variety of wildlife species, from eagles, hawks and heron to deer, sea lions and orcas….

Center & Lab

Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health (ARCH)

The ARCH Center serves as a community-driven academic hub focused on the critical interrogation and disruption of racism and racialization within systems while centering those most impacted by legacies of U.S. colonization. Guided by anti-racism, critical race theory, and community-based participatory research principles, the ARCH Center’s research will focus on testing strategies to break down…

Research Beyond UW | University of California, Berkeley

Center for Environmental Design Research

The Center for Environmental Design Research (CEDR) fosters research in environmental planning and design, ranging from the local environments of people within buildings to region-wide ecosystems, from small details of building construction to large-scale urban planning, from the history of the built environment to the design process itself. Our research is highly interdisciplinary. Our researchers…

Center & Lab

Center for Integrated Design

The mission of the Center for Integrated Design is to discover solutions that overcome the most difficult building performance barriers, and to meet the building industry’s goals of moving towards radically higher performing buildings and healthy urban environments. The Center for Integrated Design, composed of the Integrated Design Lab and the Discovery Commons, builds knowledge…

Center & Lab

Center for Journalism Media & Democracy

The Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy (formerly The Center for Communication and Civic Engagement) is dedicated to understanding communication processes and media technologies that facilitate democracy. CJMD is located in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington. Students and faculty at the center work together on original research, educational programs, and public…

Center & Lab

Center for Livable Communities

The mission of the Center for Livable Communities is to enhance the livability of communities in the Pacific Northwest through applied research and outreach in the areas of land use planning, policy, and design; healthy communities; food security; and public participation and democracy. The Center is a research and policy center focused on issues of…

Research Beyond UW | Technical University of Berlin

Center for Metropolitan Studies

The city is our research field. Since 2004 the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CMS) at the Technische Universität Berlin has brought together both young and experienced researchers to study the historical developments and current problems of the metropolis in its international graduate research program, the masters program in historical urban studies, and adjunct research projects.…

Center & Lab

Center for One Health Research

One Health is an integrated, transdisciplinary approach to health problems involving humans, animals and the rapidly changing environments we share. These problems are complex and interconnected. They require new scientific and professional competencies to understand and address them. One Health incorporates multiple perspectives to assess the underlying causes of these health challenges and to develop…

Center & Lab

Center for Social Science Computation and Research

The Center for Social Science Computation and Research (CSSCR) is a resource center for the social science departments at the University of Washington. The Center provides numerous computers, computer consulting, a data archive, and support of classwork and research on campus.

Center & Lab

Center for Southeast Asia and Its Diasporas (CSEAD)

The University of Washington Center for Southeast Asia & its Diasporas (CSEAD) is a National Resource Center for Southeast Asian Studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to Title VI of the Higher Education Act (HEA). Established in 1986, the Center and the Southeast Asia Studies Program are a source of information on…

Center & Lab

Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE)

The Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE) supports population research and training at the University of Washington. It also functions as a regional center that gives population scientists at affiliated institutions in the Pacific Northwest access to cutting-edge demographic infrastructure and services. The core of CSDE consists of a large group of productive…

News | May 1, 2019

Central District, other Seattle legacy communities are at risk — and we all need to help save them

In a new documentary about gentrification in the Central District, “On the Brink,” an advocate of Seattle’s historically African American neighborhood talks about recent construction projects in the area digging the soul out of that community. … The CD became a nearly 80% black neighborhood in the late 1960s and early ’70s because African Americans,…

Research Beyond UW | University of Toronto

Centre for Urban & Community Studies

The Centre for Urban and Community Studies (CUCS) was established in 1964 to promote and disseminate multidisciplinary research and policy analysis on urban issues. The Centre's activities contributed to scholarship on questions relating to the social, economic and physical well-being of people who live and work in urban areas large and small, in Canada and…

Research Beyond UW | University of London

Centre for Urban and Community Research (CUCR)

CUCR is a well established interdisciplinary research centre within Goldsmiths' Department of Sociology with a distinguished history of collaboration with local communities and activists. It combines theoretical investigation with critical ‘local’ project implementation from Deptford to Jakarta. From its inception in 1994 as the academic partner in Deptford City Challenge regeneration initiatives, CUCR maintains a…

Research Beyond UW | University of Nairobi

Centre for Urban Research and Innovations

Centre for Urban Research and Innovations (CURI), formerly Urban Innovations Program (UIP), is a think tank based at the University of Nairobi's Department of Urban and Regional Planning. The Centre seeks to create a forum for exploring innovative methodologies for enabling planners and professionals in the built environment to be more responsive and effective in…

Research Beyond UW | University of York

Centre for Urban Research and Innovations

The Centre for Urban Research seeks to be a critical observatory, tracking important changes and developments in urban and regional economies, societies and environments in order to identify and examine the issues likely to become key challenges in the near future. A program of frequent events provide forums for diverse communities, policy-makers and academic colleagues…

News | April 11, 2017

Challenging the whiteness of American architecture, in the 1960s and today

“This book tells the story of how I got a free Ivy League education.” That’s the arresting opening sentence of Sharon Egretta Sutton‘s “When Ivory Towers Were Black,” an unusual hybrid of memoir, institutional history and broadside against the entrenched whiteness of the architecture profession in this country. The institution in question is Columbia University…

Research Beyond UW | University of Chicago

Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago

Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago has, since its inception in 1985 as a research and policy center, focused on a mission of improving the well-being of children and youth, families, and their communities. We do this through policy research—by developing and testing new ideas, generating and analyzing information, and examining policies, programs, and…

Scholar

Charles H. Lea III

Scholar

Christopher Beasley

Scholar

Christopher Campbell

News | March 9, 2018

Cities, scientists unite in battle against climate change at U.N. summit

Climate scientists and city planners are to start charting a global roadmap on how cities can best battle climate change, when they gather at a U.N.-backed summit in Canada’s Edmonton on Monday. The three day gathering marks the first time cities rather than nations are offered a seat at the table of the Intergovernmental Panel…

News | March 23, 2018

City of Bellevue selected as 2018-2019 UW Livable City Year partner

The University of Washington Livable City Year program has selected the City of Bellevue to be the community partner for the 2018-2019 academic year. The year-long partnership connects city staff with students and faculty who will collaborate on projects to advance the Bellevue City Council Vision Priorities, specifically around livability and sustainability. In the upcoming…

Map | Melbourne

City of Melbourne Maps

This site includes information, maps and images relating to properties, features and assets located within the City of Melbourne municipal area. Map data includes childcare and schools, community facilities, development activities, historic maps, mobility information, districts, walking tours and more.

Funding

Civic Innovation Challenge

The Civic Innovation Challenge, funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Homeland Security, supports partnerships between communities and universities that address mobility and resilience priorities. Teams will compete for awards of up to $1 million to support ready-to-implement, research-based pilot projects that have the potential for scalable, sustainable,…

Scholar

Cleo Wöelfle-Hazard

News | February 11, 2018

Climate change and equity – A community conversation

Join UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, Front and Centered, the Climate Impacts Group, Urban@UW, and UW School of Public Health for an evening discussion about climate change and equity in Washington State on February 21st, 2018 at 5:30 PM. Front and Centered, Urban@UW, the Climate Impacts Group and the UW School of…

News | April 18, 2019

Climate change as a social justice issue in Seattle

This story was written by Urban@UW communications assistant Shahd Al Baz, as part of her research with our program. Social justice paradigms hold that structural barriers to economic development drive, and are driven by, environmental and spatial conditions. We need look no further than Seattle to see this, where patterns of environmental degradation intersect with…

News | June 5, 2023

Climate Hazards Are the Duwamish Valley’s Top Concern, Survey Finds

A new study of Duwamish Valley residents in South Park and Georgetown shows that more people list environmental impacts as one of their top-three concerns than any other problem facing the area, followed by crime and cost of living. The Duwamish Valley Climate Resilience Survey was a joint project of city agencies, university researchers and community groups…

News | May 13, 2024

Cloud Brightening Study in California Is Halted by Local Officials

Researchers had been testing a sprayer that could one day be used to push a salty mist skyward, cooling the Earth. Officials stopped the work, citing health questions. Written by Christopher Flavelle for The New York Times. Officials in Alameda, Calif., have told scientists to stop testing a device that might one day be used…

News | August 4, 2022

College of Built Environments students help historically Black churches survive gentrification

Rev. George Davenport Jr. had a vision of using real estate to sustain his church community in its historically Black Central District neighborhood. But while the streets around the church gentrified, he struggled through the complex landscape of zoning laws, building codes and speculative funding options. Then he stumbled upon the Nehemiah Initiative and the…

News | May 18, 2022

College of Built Environments students help historically Black churches survive gentrification.

Rev. George Davenport Jr. had a vision of using real estate to sustain his church community in its historically Black Central District neighborhood. But while the streets around the church gentrified, he struggled through the complex landscape of zoning laws, building codes and speculative funding options. Then he stumbled upon the Nehemiah Initiative and the…

News | June 8, 2022

College of Built Environments’ unique Inspire Fund aims to foster research momentum in underfunded pursuits college-wide. And it’s working.

“For a small college, CBE has a broad range of research paradigms, from history and arts, to social science and engineering.” — Carrie Sturts Dossick, Associate Dean of Research Upon taking on the role of Associate Dean of Research, Carrie Sturts Dossick, professor in the Department of Construction Management, undertook listening sessions to learn about…

News | June 5, 2024

Community broadband provides a local solution for a global problem

Written by Esther Jang, Postdoctoral Fellow, Computer Science, University of Washington; Katherine Gillieson, Associate Dean, Master of Design, Emily Carr University; and Michael Lithgow, Associate Professor, Media and Communication Studies, Athabasca University Published in The Conversation. According to a 2023 study by the International Telecommunications Union, approximately 2.6 billion people are unconnected to the internet….

News | December 23, 2020

Community care research during dual pandemics: An update from Urban@UW Affiliates

This fall, with a grant from Population Health Initiative: COVID Rapid Response, the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity’s research team began a project on community care and mental health of Black/African American communities in Seattle. Led by Urban@UW Affiliates Ralina Joseph, Professor, Department of Communication and Director of CCDE; and N. Gina Aaftab, Assistant…

Research Beyond UW | University of Virginia

Community Design Research Center

The Community Design Research Center (CDRC), led by director Suzanne Moomaw, initiates, generates, and works collaboratively with partners to connect faculty, students, and community members to research and design application projects aimed at addressing systemic local, regional, national, and global challenges. Called the “wicked” problems of society, these include human settlements, sustainable ecosystems, poverty, food…

Center & Lab

Community Engagement and Leadership Education (CELE) Center

The Community Engagement and Leadership Education (CELE) Center provides students with opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to thriving communities; building authentic community and campus partnerships drive our work. Our programs are centered around the areas of community-engaged learning, democratic engagement, leadership education, preK-12 student success and place-based initiatives. Build…

Research Beyond UW | Columbia University

Community Impact at Columbia University

Community Impact serves individuals in need in the communities of Upper Manhattan while providing meaningful volunteering and leadership opportunities for students at Columbia University and Barnard College. Community Impact oversees the operation of 27 programs that provide a variety of services for residents in the surrounding Harlem, Morningside Heights, and Washington Heights communities. Columbia and…

Degree Program

Community, Environment & Planning (BA)

Community, Environment, and Planning is a self-directed, diverse undergraduate major comprised of students, faculty, and staff engaged in holistic growth and a collaborative process of experiential and interdisciplinary learning. In our major, we develop skills, techniques, and knowledge necessary to be active leaders and conscientious planners in our communities and environments. Our values are presented…

Center & Lab

Consulting and Business Development Center

We accelerate student careers and grow businesses and jobs in communities where they’re needed the most. By engaging students in solving complex, unstructured, real-world challenges students learn to think strategically, develop leadership skills, and integrate knowledge across business disciplines. More than 95% of students who participate in the Center’s programs report improved job performance after…

News | May 7, 2020

Coronavirus pushed Seattle to treat homelessness differently. Will those changes last?

Lola Anderson-Najera finally has a door that locks. After years of weaving in and out homelessness, sleeping “elbow-to-elbow” in shelters and sometimes outside, she’s found a tiny, temporary home. It’s small, but it has a chair to read in, an end table to hold her things, and fresh sheets. Above all, she said, there’s a new feeling of…

News | September 24, 2020

COVID-19 testing in King County homeless shelters shows need to create safer conditions in crowded settings

Border detention facilities, prisons and refugee camps have something in common with communal homeless shelters, University of Washington School of Medicine researchers say. They’re home to “closed, crowded conditions where people have to live in small spaces and share a lot of common facilities,” said Dr. Helen Y. Chu, associate professor at the UW School…

Scholar

Craig W. Thomas

News | November 26, 2024

Creating multi-sector teams to build cities where everyone thrives.

Research-to-Action Teams 2024-25 In April of 2024 two teams were selected for participation in the second cohort of the Research to Action Collaboratory. For 18 months Urban@UW will work with these teams to provide seed funds, dedicated time to building team cohesion and collaboration skills, and opportunities for peer support, shared resources, and learning. These…

Scholar

Cristina Lacomba

News | November 8, 2024

Crows hold grudges against individual humans for up to 17 years

Reported by Eric Falls for Earth.com Crows are more than just black-feathered figures cawing from treetops; they are masters of memory and grudges, with cognitive abilities that defy our expectations. While we often admire birds for their bright plumage and lilting songs, there is a deeper layer to their behavior that remains unseen. Birds are…

Scholar

Crystal C. Hall

News | March 31, 2020

CUAC releases program report highlighting collaborative research across Cascadia

The Cascadia Urban Analytics Cooperative (CUAC) has released a comprehensive program report detailing collaborative research and training activities between the University of Washington (UW) and the University of British Columbia (UBC) over the last three years. CUAC supports interdisciplinary studies of large urban data sets that use the latest data science techniques to address policy-relevant issues affecting…

Scholar

Dan Abramson

Scholar

Danae Dotolo

Scholar

Daniel Winterbottom

News | July 7, 2016

Data Science for Social Good 2016

This summer we are thrilled to be supporting the eScience Institute’s Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program. Modeled after similar programs at the University of Chicago and Georgia Tech, with elements from eScience’s own Data Science Incubator, sixteen DSSG Student Fellows have been working with academic researchers, data scientists, and public stakeholder groups on…

News | October 12, 2018

Data Science for Social Good shares its fourth year of partnership-based projects

The fourth annual Data Science for Social Good (DSSG) program at the eScience Institute culminated on August 17th with final presentations from three interdisciplinary teams. The 15 DSSG Student Fellows – representing fields from public policy and sociology to biology, statistics and electrical engineering – presented their findings based on 10 weeks of full-time work with in-house data scientists…

Scholar

David Hendry

News | August 18, 2022

Dean Cheng at AIA ’22

The Soul Children of Chicago, an acclaimed youth choir, delivered an energetic start to Day 2 of A’22. The group performed four songs to warm up the crowd for the impending keynote panel conversation. Moderated by Lee Bey, a Chicago-based photographer, author, lecturer, and architecture critic, the conversation featured renowned architects Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA, Renée…

News | December 31, 2016

December Recap – TC3, Urban Environmental Justice, Tech, and other Highlights

December concludes a complicated year. The past month has seen a variety of changes, new research, and reflections on life in Seattle, the tech world, urban environmental justice, and our campus. Urban@UW and Climate Impacts Group collaborated on the Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change symposium. Urban@UW published a reflection on the…

Scholar

Derek Jennings

Center & Lab

Design for Digital Inclusion (DDI)

The DDI group researches diversity and technology from a design perspective. The group focuses on technology development for resource constrained environments in order to counteract what could be called a failure of imagination in terms of how devices, software, and services are designed. With the advent of newer, smaller, and cheaper technologies, the user base…

News | May 31, 2019

Designing for resilience

Seattle is one of the fastest growing cities in the country– a hub of innovation with a thriving economy. Yet this rapid growth challenges the capacity of the city to adapt without damaging its current communities. Students from The University of Washington’s College of Built Environments responded to these and other challenges through the Winter…

Scholar

Diana Pearce

Map | Nairobi

Digital Matatus, Nairobi

Digital Matatus shows how to leverage the ubiquitous nature of cellphone technology in developing countries to collect data for essential infrastructure, give it out freely and in the process spur innovation and improved services for citizens. Conceived out of collaboration between Kenyan and American universities and the technology sector in Nairobi, this project captured transit…

Degree Program

Disability Studies (Minor, Major, and Graduate Certificate)

Disability Studies is a multi-disciplinary field that investigates, critiques, and enhances Western society’s understandings of disability. The Disability Studies Program's Minor, Major, and Graduate Certificate will introduce you to a critical framework for recognizing how people with disabilities have experienced disadvantages and exclusion because of personal and societal responses to impairment, and for exploring how…

News | October 4, 2018

Disaster response needed to bring homeless people inside, says King County health board

The King County Board of Health is urging local governments to use emergency homeless shelters in anticipation of the quickly approaching cold weather. The board of health this week unanimously approved board member Bill Daniell’s proposal to call homelessness a public health disaster and advise local governments to do whatever is necessary to get people inside. The board’s…

Scholar

Donald King

News | December 16, 2019

Doorway Project Winter Update: Building at the Speed of Trust

The Doorway Project, a cross-campus and community-engaged project under Urban@UW’s Homelessness Research Initiative, has been busy! Check out their activities and plans for the future in their latest blog post:   With the end of the year and the end of the decade approaching in the next few weeks, this moment feels like a perfect time to…

News | September 10, 2021

Doorway Project: 2020-2021 Year End Report

The Doorway Project is an initiative co-led by the University of Washington and YouthCare, an agency offering individualized services to young people experiencing homelessness in Seattle/King County. The Doorway Project works to address youth and young adult homelessness in the University District through centering youth wellbeing and agency in the development of emancipatory and creative…

News | July 2, 2018

Driving? Your phone is a distraction even if you aren’t looking at it

I was in the car with a friend recently when she pulled up to a stoplight, picked up her phone and replied to a text. I gave her the side eye. What? she glared back. “I only use my phone when we’re stopped.” “OK, fine,” I said. But, I wondered, is it? We all know that…

News | July 8, 2019

Drug-related deaths continue to rise in King County

Drug-related deaths have continued to climb in King County, with fatal overdoses involving methamphetamine and fentanyl on the rise, according to Public Health — Seattle & King County. King County, like cities across the country, have focused their efforts on combating opioids. Syringe exchanges in King County distributed nearly 8 million needles last year, along…

News | April 17, 2024

E-bike fires are sparking trouble in Seattle. Here’s how to use them safely.

Written by Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez for KUOW. Seattle’s streets have become home to hundreds of electronic bikes and scooters in recent years, with a growing number of commuters and hobbyists relying on them to get around. As usage of these lithium-ion battery powered devices grows, so has the number of fires in connection with them….

News | April 8, 2024

Earthquake showed Taiwan was well prepared for a big one — more so than parts of U.S.

Originally reported by Evan Bush  for NBC News. The powerful earthquake in Taiwan on Wednesday shook an island that was well prepared for a seismic catastrophe — likely more so than some regions of the U.S., several experts said. Nine people have been reported dead, though Taiwanese officials said the death toll could rise in…

Scholar

Elena A. Erosheva

Scholar

Elena Austin

News | November 17, 2022

Empowering youth to seek climate solutions in their communities

A new $2.3 million program funded by the US National Science Foundation will educate and equip young scientists to cultivate resilience to climate impacts such as flooding and extreme heat. Partners include the University of Washington Interdisciplinary Center for Exposures, Diseases, Genomics and Environment (EDGE) and the Duwamish River Community Coalition  (DRCC). EDGE is part…

News | June 26, 2015

Environmental Change – Local Impacts and Response by Himanshu Grover

Presented at the June 1st Urban@UW Launch

Funding

Environmental Justice Fund

The Environmental Justice Fund is a grant opportunity for community-led projects that improve environmental conditions, respond to impacts of climate change and get us closer to achieving environmental justice. Created in 2017, the Fund is overseen by the Environmental Justice Committee, people with deep community roots working closely with communities on environmental justice issues. Environmental…

Scholar

Eric Higbee

Degree Program

Evans School Master of Public Administration (MPA)

The Evans School Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree is a nationally ranked program designed to equip students with essential skills needed to enter careers in government and the nonprofit sector. Students acquire the knowledge, technical skills, and political acumen required for effective leadership in public service through a curriculum that equally emphasizes policy analysis,…

Center & Lab

Evans School Policy Analysis & Research Group (EPAR)

Established in 2008, the Evans School Policy Analysis and Research Group (EPAR) uses an innovative student-faculty team model to provide rigorous, applied research and analysis to international development stakeholders. EPAR has prepared more than 300 technical reports and briefs including: statistical data analysis and research, literature reviews and analysis, and portfolio analysis and strategy support.…

Map

Eviction Lab

We're unpacking America's eviction crisis. The Eviction Lab at Princeton University has built the first nationwide database of evictions. Find out how many evictions happen in your community. Create custom maps, charts, and reports. Share facts with your neighbors and elected officials.

Degree Program

Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA)

Gain the skills and knowledge needed to excel as a leader dedicated to serving the public good with the Executive Master of Public Administration at the University of Washington. Offered by the nationally ranked Evans School, this 18-month accelerated program combines theory with practice, allowing you to apply coursework directly to the organizational challenges you…

News | July 31, 2018

FEMA-style tents as homeless shelters? Maybe, say some King County officials

Three health officials on the King County Board of Health are urging the panel to declare homelessness a “public health disaster” and advise local jurisdictions to respond accordingly — including potentially deploying large scale FEMA-style tents as emergency shelter before winter. Two and a half years after both Seattle and King County declared a state of…

Scholar

Fern Tiger

News | February 24, 2022

Fight over homeless hotel shelters arrives in Kirkland

Homeless hotel shelters continue to be difficult sells for those living in cities outside of Seattle, with Kirkland residents now expressing concerns over the potential purchase of a vacant La Quinta Inn. Snohomish County Councilmember pushes back against hotels for homeless residents King County is reportedly considering the La Quinta Inn — located near SR 520 on…

News | March 16, 2017

First UW Livable City Year project reports delivered to the City of Auburn

Teams of University of Washington students have been working throughout this academic year on livability and sustainability projects in the City of Auburn. The yearlong Livable City Year partnership has given students a chance to work on real-world challenges identified by Auburn, while providing Auburn with tens of thousands of hours of study and student…

News | May 21, 2021

Five months and $100,000 later, Seattle City Council asks: Where are the street sinks?

Last November, the Seattle City Council earmarked $100,000 intended to quickly set up dozens of new hand-washing facilities around the city — a resource to meet the desperate needs of more than 3,700 unsheltered people in Seattle after the pandemic closed access to running water at businesses and other public spaces. Five months later, as shelters…

News | November 23, 2015

Focusing on Race & Advancing Equity

“I challenge all of us — students, faculty and staff, and my leadership team — to own both our personal responsibility for the culture of our campus, and the institutional challenges we need to address to combat the racism, both individual and institutional, that persists here and throughout our society.” In April 2015, President Ana…

News | June 18, 2018

Food insecurity is a growing obstacle for college students

Expanding access to higher education is a core part of the mission at the University of Washington Tacoma, which had its commencement Monday. Many of the campus’ students commute from nearby communities, 58 percent have parents without college degrees, and 73 percent receive financial aid. “We have a lot of first-generation students,” said Christine Stevens, a professor who…

Funding

Ford Foundation

We believe in the inherent dignity of all people. Yet around the world, billions of people are excluded from full participation in the political, economic, and cultural systems that shape their lives. We view this fundamental inequality as the defining challenge of our time, one that limits the potential of all people, everywhere. Addressing inequality…

News | June 13, 2018

Forest loss in one part of US can harm trees on the opposite coast

Large swaths of U.S. forests are vulnerable to drought, forest fires and disease. Many local impacts of forest loss are well known: drier soils, stronger winds, increased erosion, loss of shade and habitat. But if a whole forest disappears, new research shows, this has ricocheting effects in the atmosphere that can affect vegetation on the…

News | August 11, 2023

Forget Banning Books — A Rural WA County May Close Its Library

As libraries throughout the country face increasing calls to ban young adult books that cover race and LGBTQ+ issues, one in a rural district east of Walla Walla faces a challenge to its very existence. The Columbia County Rural Library District could be dissolved by voters after a community member filed a petition to close…

News | June 12, 2018

Four Lessons From the Tacoma Whole Child Initiative

Five years ago, Tacoma launched the Whole Child Initiative, with the goal of supporting the comprehensive development and success of each student. We have seen firsthand that supporting the whole child comes with a new set of challenges. But, with the right partners and a focused plan, this approach can make all the difference for…

News | July 6, 2023

From Vacant Storefronts to Vibrant Hubs: Revisiting ‘Third Places’ for Urban Resilience

In Seattle, city government and the Downtown Seattle Association continue to build on the “Amazon Great Return” through a variety of strategies to reactivate downtown. While attempts to maintain safety and deter drug trafficking remain forefront in the news, increased foot traffic, intriguing office-to-residence retrofit proposals and trends toward park and retail reopening suggest a spirit…

Map

Furushwa

In response to thousands of evictions by the Kenyan government Amnesty International built this resource to allow residents at risk of eviction, or those who’ve already been made homeless, to easily report it. To collect multi media evidence showing the human impact of illegal evictions and to send instant up-to-date-information alerting residents when an eviction…

Degree Program

Geography (BA, minor, MA, PhD)

Geographers address some of the world’s most urgent challenges, including globalization, economic inequality, world hunger and agricultural development, global health and health care, the social control of public spaces, immigration, gender inequality, and what it means to be a citizen in the 21st century. Answers to such questions are complex and partial, and these issues…

News | March 20, 2018

Giving Voice, Being Seen: Community Agency and Design Action in a Time of Climate Change, April 26

Climate change affects everyone, but it does not impact all communities equally. These differences may be most evident in the built environment and the shared spaces such as parks, streets, schools, homes, which we experience and move through daily. In seeking to inspire more collaborative, inclusive and creative responses to climate change in the built…

News | May 20, 2024

Global life expectancy is projected to increase by 5 years by 2050

Reported by Rodielon Putol for Earth A recent study from the prestigious Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2021 reveals an encouraging trend: global life expectancy is expected to rise by nearly five years by 2050, despite various global challenges. According to the findings published in The Lancet, life expectancy for males is projected to…

Degree Program

Global Master of Public Administration (MPA)

The Evans School’s Global Master of Public Administration will prepare you to thrive in public sector organizations that work across borders. With theory and a practical skillset unique to two cultural contexts, you will be equipped with the skills you need to improve public policy, pursue powerful ideas and advance your capacity to lead internationally.…

Degree Program

Graduate Certificate in Historic Preservation

The College of Built Environments (CBE) offers two complementary certificates in historic preservation which emphasize the field of historic preservation and related developments in allied fields that address the multiplicity of issues in the identification, evaluation, and protection of cultural resources. The certificates are intended to enhance the education of students beyond their regular course…

Center & Lab

Green Cities: Good Health

Metro nature - including trees, parks, gardens, and natural areas - enhance quality of life in cities and towns. The experience of nature improves human health and well-being in many ways. Nearly 40 years of scientific studies tell us how. Here's the research ...

News | March 19, 2021

Green construction can play an active role as climate action accelerates

The following op ed was penned by Anthony Hickling, Managing Director of University of Washington‘s Carbon Leadership Forum.   When President Joe Biden re-signed the Paris Accord and introduced the largest clean-energy and climate-justice plan the country has ever seen, he launched a significant opportunity to fight climate change. Buildings can be part of the…

News | April 9, 2017

Growing Up in the University District

Vikram Jandhyala sees Seattle’s University District evolving into an “innovation district” — a place where public and private sectors work together to develop socially beneficial technologies. Think Silicon Valley, where Stanford University faculty and students launch new companies or work on their new technologies with existing tech giants. As the University of Washington’s vice president…

News | April 22, 2024

Has the US finally figured out how to do high-speed rail?

Written by Jeremy Hsu for NewScientist. Construction began today on the first true high-speed rail line in the US, which will connect Los Angeles suburbanites to the bright lights of Las Vegas, Nevada. Not only should the project enable people in the US to finally experience European and Asian standards of speedy passenger trains, it…

Scholar

Heather D. Hill

News | June 17, 2024

Here’s what homeowners can do to prevent one of the leading causes of death for birds

Originally reported by for King 5 by Erica Zucco. SEATTLE — U.S. Fish and Wildlife and other agencies say one of the leading causes of death in birds is colliding with buildings. Birds fly at a high rate of speed and don’t recognize glass as a barrier, often ending in mortality. University of Washington researcher…

News | June 11, 2024

Here’s why an Arizona medical examiner is working to track heat-related deaths

Written by Alejandra Borunda for NPR News Greg Hess deals with death day in, day out. Hess is the medical examiner for Pima County, Ariz., a region along the United States-Mexico border. His office handles some 3,000 deaths each year — quiet deaths, overdoses, gruesome deaths, tragic ones. From April through October every year, Hess…

News | February 12, 2016

Heterogeneity and American Ghettos with Dr. Mario Luis Small – 2/25

February 25th / 6:00-7:30pm / CMU 120 Dr. Mario Luis Small Grafstein Family Professor, Harvard University By the end of the 20th century, the dominant theories of urban poverty argued that U.S. ghettos had become isolated areas devoid of everyday institutions and disconnected from mainstream society. Dr. Small examines whether the conventional models have underestimated…

Scholar

Hilary Godwin

News | February 1, 2024

History uncovered: UW research finds thousands of past racial restrictions in Kitsap

Reported in The Kitsap Sun By Peiyu Lin It’s not a secret that Kitsap County possesses a history of segregation, where some areas of the peninsula were only allowed to sell or rent to white people in the early and mid-20th century. But a specific geographic distribution of the over 2,300 properties that carry racial…

Research Beyond UW | University of Denver

Homeless Advocacy Policy Project

The Homeless Advocacy Policy Project (HAPP) at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law is a student-driven project focused on researching the laws criminalizing homelessness and advocating for the rights of homeless individuals.

News | October 26, 2017

Homeless artists showcase work at UW

One way to humanize the homeless is through art. “Telling our stories: art and home(lessness)” is a show Oct. 11-Dec. 15 featuring the work of six artists living in a low-barrier supportive housing project. They are part of an artists’ collective developed out of collaboration with University of Washington researchers, the Downtown Emergency Service Center…

Research Beyond UW | Seattle University

Homeless Rights Advocacy Project

The Homeless Rights Advocacy Project (HRAP) engages Seattle University School of Law students in effective legal and policy research, analysis, and advocacy work to advance the rights of homeless adults, youth, and children.

News | June 6, 2019

Homelessness drops 8% in Seattle but more live in tents

The number of homeless in Seattle dropped nearly 8% over the last two years reflecting an across the board drop in nearly all categories. But there was an increase in the number of people living unsheltered in tents and encampments and that’s where Seattle’s Navigation Team focuses on. Mayor Durkan announced on Friday an expansion…

News | December 7, 2022

Homelessness Research Initiative convenes homelessness scholars from across the UW

Last Tuesday, faculty, staff, and students from across the University of Washington met in the Hans Rosling Center for Population Health for a convening of the Homelessness Research Initiative. Led by faculty co-chairs Rachel Fyall, associate professor in the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, and Gregg Colburn, assistant professor in the College of…

News | January 12, 2022

How a Seattle community is supporting a tribe’s fight for its existence

The Duwamish tribe isn’t recognized by the US government. It doesn’t have its own reservation. More than a century of broken treaty promises, discriminatory laws and violence forced many of its people from their ancestral homelands in what is now the Seattle area. Still, the Duwamish continue to exist and fight for their survival. Today,…

News | September 25, 2019

How a VR project documenting Seattle’s music history revealed the risk of a new digital divide

Yolanda Barton loves Seattle’s music history — the history that starts decades before Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Soundgarden came screaming onto the scene and Macklemore took fans thrift store shopping. We’re talking about the “honey at dusk” vocals of jazz legend Ernestine Anderson; about booty-celebrating rap superstar Sir Mix-a-Lot; about Quincy Jones, the jazz and pop music virtuoso and winner…

News | January 9, 2021

How a year of protests changed Seattle

It took the ripples of outrage over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last May about three days to reach Seattle, driving thousands of protesters into the streets in solidarity with demands to end police violence against people of color and address, finally, the institutional racism that feeds it. Seven months later, those tear…

News | October 15, 2019

How bike sharing in Seattle rose from the ashes of Pronto’s failure

In October 2014, Seattle launched Pronto, a docked bike-share program. But Pronto had problems shifting into a higher gear, and the city ended the program in 2017, making Seattle one of the few cities in the world to shut down a modern public bike sharing system. Then, four months later, Seattle became the first city…

News | April 4, 2024

How do wildfires affect mental health? A new UW study examines the connection

Originally reported in the Seattle Times by Taylor Blatchford Checking air quality and staying indoors when smoke inundates the Seattle area has become second nature during Washington’s wildfire season in recent years. But new research highlights how wildfires can affect a less visible aspect of well-being: mental health. A University of Washington study published in…

News | March 25, 2024

How e-bikes are helping ease package delivery clogs

Originally reported by Kristin Schwab for Marketplace. It’s a rainy evening in New York City, as in flash flood warning kind of rain. But it’s nothing Michael Singh hasn’t seen. “Yes, rain, snow, high winds, all of it,” said Singh, who’s been a bike messenger for seven years and started with Amazon a few months ago….

News | July 7, 2022

How many homeless people are in King County? Depends who you ask

Since the data-driven Marc Dones was hired to lead the new King County Regional Homelessness Authority, one of their main priorities has been to get an accurate count of the homeless population. Now, Dones and the Authority have two different counts: 13,368 and 40,800. Both are larger than the previous estimate of the homeless population conducted…

News | January 16, 2021

How much will homelessness rise? Grim study shows possible ‘impact of doing nothing,’ researchers say

A recession following the coronavirus pandemic could cause twice as much homelessness nationwide as the Great Recession did more than a decade ago, says a grim study released Tuesday by Economic Roundtable, an L.A. research group. Using detailed data on unemployment and homelessness from L.A. County social services, authors of the study project that people at the…

News | April 28, 2022

How one architect’s radical ideas about nature changed American cities forever

For those of us who did the majority of our growing up in upper Manhattan, it’s not hyperbolic to say that New York’s Central Park was our backyard. We spent snow days careening down Cedar Hill on our sleds. I attended a bar mitzvah reception at Loeb Boathouse, spending a good portion of it perched…

News | August 30, 2018

How racism kept black Tacomans from buying houses for decades

Honorably discharged after serving in the Korean War, the young man looked to settle down in Tacoma with his wife. If only they could convince someone to show them a home. If they got to a house first, the real estate agent would leave upon seeing them. They learned to park down the street and…

News | June 11, 2020

How Seattle’s unemployed survived the Great Depression

When the stock market crashed in fall of 1929, the road from joblessness to homelessness was short. Meager local relief programs and private charity weren’t up to the challenge of mass unemployment. As the Depression deepened and President Herbert Hoover resolutely opposed federal involvement in relief efforts, “Hoovervilles” sprang up around the country. Seattle’s largest shanty…

News | February 15, 2019

How Seattle’s 1919 General Strike Ignited America’s Labor Movement

On February 6, 1919, 65,000 union workers in Seattle walked off the job. On that Wednesday morning, barbers, newsboys, ice wagon drivers, stereotypers, electrical utility workers, and bill posters didn’t show up for work, a demonstration of solidarity with shipyard workers who had already been striking for two weeks in pursuit of higher wages. The…

News | March 15, 2018

How social networks help perpetuate the ‘cycle of segregation’

Think about the last time you looked for a new apartment or house. Maybe you asked your friends or colleagues about where they lived. You thought about your route to work, or that neighborhood you always drive through on your way to your kid’s soccer practice. Many of these places were familiar to you, whether…

News | July 29, 2024

How Tiny Homes Could Help Solve America’s Homelessness Crisis

Reported by Giulia Carbonaro for Newsweek Shelter villages of tiny homes have popped up across the U.S. in recent years, as the small structures have started to be seen by many advocates as a promising solution to solve homelessness. Perhaps unsurprisingly at a time when mortgage rates are still hovering around the 7-percent mark and…

News | October 18, 2024

How to avoid sharing election misinformation

Reported by Audrey Nguyen for NPR The 2024 election season is upon us. While Election Day is November 5, early voting started in September in some states. As we wait for the final results to be declared, chances are, you’re going to come across false or misleading information. To avoid spreading misinformation this election season,…

News | July 6, 2020

How urban design can make or break protests

If protesters could plan a perfect stage to voice their grievances, it might look a lot like Athens, Greece. Its broad, yet not overly long, central boulevards are almost tailor-made for parading. Its large parliament-facing square, Syntagma, forms a natural focal point for marchers. With a warren of narrow streets surrounding the center, including the…

News | April 12, 2024

How Washington’s local governments have moved to allow for denser housing

Originally reported by Laurel Demkovich in the Washington State Standard. Washington lawmakers in recent years have passed laws to require local governments to allow for more housing density with duplexes, triplexes or attached dwelling units. But before lawmakers required these changes, they looked at ways to incentivize local governments to do this on their own….

Funding

IBM Center for the Business of Government – Connecting Research to Practice

The aim of the IBM Center for The Business of Government is to tap into the best minds in academe and the nonprofit sector who can use rigorous public management research and analytic techniques to help public sector executives and managers improve the effectiveness of government. We are looking for very practical findings and actionable…

News | May 2, 2024

Immunocompromised and at-risk Americans feel left behind as COVID restrictions disappear

Written by Clayton Sandell for Scripps News Four years after the COVID pandemic swept across the U.S., mask mandates are no more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommends a five-day isolation after a positive test, and travel restrictions have been lifted. But for millions of Americans like Jessica Spangler’s 9-year-old daughter,…

News | December 5, 2019

Impact of WTO protests in Seattle still felt 2 decades later

An array of issues brought tens of thousands of protesters to Seattle 20 years ago Saturday, with one unifying theme: concern that the World Trade Organization, a then-little-known body charged with regulating international trade, threatened them all. With their message amplified not just by their numbers, but by the response of overwhelmed police who fired…

News | November 10, 2020

In King County, pollution makes ZIP codes predictors of your health

In Seattle, a ZIP code can predict everything from income to social class to life expectancy. White, wealthy residents of northern neighborhoods such as Laurelhurst live 13 years longer than their poorer neighbors of color in the southern neighborhoods of South Park and Georgetown. Air and soil pollution has disproportionately affected Seattle’s communities of color for…

News | February 5, 2018

In orlando, america’s theme park capital, low income black residents can’t breathe the air

The struggle for environmental justice in low-income and Black communities continues. This is most certainly the case in Orlando, Florida. In the heart of one of the premier tourist destinations in the United States, the theme park capital of America, the residents of a historically Black community are having trouble breathing due to air pollution…

News | March 31, 2020

In the coronavirus crisis, who gets to be outside?

As the first weekend of spring began, nearly 100 million Americans had just been ordered to stay home to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. Even the most stringent stay-at-home orders in the U.S. currently allow people to go outside, which is providing multitudinous benefits in this time of great uncertainty. Taking a short walk, roll,…

News | April 2, 2021

In the face of hate, Asian Americans call for solidarity with all people of color

Since the beginning of the year, Asian Americans have come increasingly under violent attack. Elders have been assaulted in Chinatowns across the country from Oakland to San Francisco to New York City. In late February, Inglemoor High School Japanese teacher Noriko Nasu and her boyfriend were walking through Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (C-ID) and were attacked…

News | September 9, 2024

In Washington’s closest elections, volunteers go door-to-door to ‘rehab’ faulty ballots

Reported by Scott Greenstone for KUOW/NPR On a mid-August afternoon in Seattle, Lisa McCrummen walked around Phinney Ridge knocking on doors — but her neighbors were not home. “‘Your neighbor stopped by to make sure your primary election ballot is being counted,’” McCrummen wrote on a note. McCrummen left notes like this all afternoon at…

Scholar

Ines Jurcevic

Center & Lab

Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research

The Institute for Hazards Mitigation Planning and Research is dedicated to integrating hazards mitigation principles into a wide range of crisis, disaster, and risk management opportunities. Its mission is to build a resource center that will enhance risk reduction and resilience activities through research and analysis of hazards, policies related to mitigation, and outreach to…

Research Beyond UW | University of California, Berkeley

Institute of Urban and Regional Development

Through collaborative, interdisciplinary research and practice, Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) supports students, faculty, and visiting scholars to critically investigate and help improve processes and outcomes that shape urban equity around the world. "The future of IURD will be to position itself as a global leader in research and policy that aims to…

News | July 19, 2021

Integrating solutions to adapt cities for climate change

A new article explores how record climate extremes are reducing urban livability, compounding inequality, and threatening infrastructure. Co-authored by Marina Alberti, Professor of Urban Design and Planning at the University of Washington; Brenda B Lin, Alessandro Ossola, Erik Andersson, Xuemei Bai, Cynnamon Dobbs, Thomas Elmqvist, Karl L Evans, Niki Frantzeskaki, Richard A Fuller, Kevin J Gaston,…

News | September 21, 2021

Interdisciplinary course helps empower the local community

Professors in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments have created an interdisciplinary, graduate-level course, the McKinley Futures Nehemiah Studio, that combines architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and design, and real estate principles into a groundbreaking opportunity for the local African American community as well as the students who participate in it. The studio…

Degree Program

Interdisciplinary Urban Design & Planning (PhD)

This program brings together faculty from disciplines ranging from Architecture to Sociology to focus on the interdisciplinary study of urban problems and interventions. Covering scales from neighborhoods to metropolitan areas, the program addresses interrelationships between the physical environment, the built environment, and the social, economic, and political institutions and processes that shape urban areas. The…

Degree Program

International Development Policy and Management Certificate

Offers students a foundation for addressing complex questions of poverty and development. The IDCP “transcriptable” certificate has been earned by 225 UW graduate students from 14 departments and Schools, and allows students to study current topics in international policy, management and economics in a disciplinarily diverse classroom.

Funding

International Dissertation Research Fellowship

The Mellon International Dissertation Research Fellowship (IDRF) offers six to twelve months of support to graduate students in the humanities and humanistic social sciences who are enrolled in PhD programs in the United States and conducting dissertation research on Native American or non-US topics. The IDRF program especially welcomes applications from underrepresented institutions. Sixty fellowships…

News | May 13, 2024

Is Seattle a walkable city? Pedestrian death rates show otherwise

Written by Jadenne Radoc Cabahug for Crosscut. Washington was the first state to commit to zero traffic fatalities. But 24 years later, deaths are at an all-time high and officials are reevaluating. Twenty-four years after Washington became the first state to commit to decreasing pedestrian traffic deaths to zero, the numbers continue to move in…

News | June 7, 2019

It’s going to get harder to evict people in WA. Will that reduce homelessness?

As the number of homeless residents soars in King County and across the state, housing and homelessness advocates have turned their attention to eviction reform as a piece of the solution. One prominent study, from the Seattle Women’s Commission, found that the vast majority of people evicted end up on the street, in shelters or…

Scholar

J. Mark Pendras

News | October 27, 2016

Jacqui Patterson: A Brief Annotated Reading List

Jacqueline Patterson is a preeminent researcher and activist in the field of environmental and climate justice. Patterson is one of UW’s 2016 Walker-Ames endowed speakers, and special guest at the upcoming symposium, Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change. Urban@UW has compiled a brief reading list to help contextualize Patterson’s work: Gulf Oil…

Scholar

James Gregory

Scholar

Janine Jones

Scholar

Jason Vogel

Scholar

Jeff Hou

Scholar

Jeff Shulman

News | July 26, 2016

Jeff Shulman and the Seattle Growth Podcast: An Office Hours Visit

Jeff Shulman moved to Seattle a decade ago to begin his career at the University of Washington. In that short time, he’s watched Seattle’s dramatic and ongoing growth transform the city. This former South Lake Union resident has put together a thirteen-episode, in-depth look at how Seattle’s changes have affected real people. With nearly 100…

Scholar

Jelani Ince

Scholar

Jen Davison

Scholar

Jennifer Otten

Scholar

Jennifer Romich

Scholar

Jessi Quizar

Scholar

Jim Theofelis

Scholar

Joaquín Herranz Jr.

Scholar

Jodi Sandfort

Scholar

Joe Mienko

News | November 26, 2024

Join Urban@UW in creating innovative solutions for city dwellers, today and into the future.

Support Urban@UW Urban@UW extends the understanding of cities—from people, buildings, infrastructure, and energy to economics, policy, culture, art, and nature—beyond individual topics to dynamically interdependent systems, so that we can holistically design and steward vibrant and welcoming cities in which future generations will thrive. Urban@UW works with scholars, policymakers, and community stakeholders to develop cross-disciplinary…

Scholar

Jon E. Froehlich

Scholar

Josephine Ensign

News | February 22, 2017

Julian Agyeman: A Brief Reading List

Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University, will be delivering a talk at the University of Washington on February 28 at 7:30pm. Agyeman was originally trained as an ecologist and biogeographer before turning to critical urban studies and environmental social science. Agyeman’s scholarship challenges basic notions of sustainability through…

Scholar

Julie M. Johnson

News | May 5, 2021

Just Sustainabilities in a Post-Pandemic World: Virtual Symposium on May 27th

The COVID-19 pandemic has tested our cities’ adaptability and resilience and dug deeper holes in cities’ social, environmental and physical fabric. As we come out of the pandemic, we need to re-think how the city fabric functions. Planning for the post-pandemic city requires a careful understanding of the implications of the COVID19 pandemic on pre-existing…

Funding

Kauffman Foundation

The Kauffman Foundation works together with organizations that share our vision and passion for education, entrepreneurship and the Kansas City community. We first listen to the communities we serve, tap into our learnings and relationships, and bring everyone together to build and support programs that improve education, boost entrepreneurship, and help Kansas City thrive. As…

Scholar

Kimberly Ambrose

News | July 28, 2022

King County hoping to close heat disparity gap in low-income areas

Earlier this year, King County announced it is developing a heat strategy plan to better handle extreme heat waves. But data shows certain neighborhoods — particularly lower income areas — tend to get much hotter. Those behind the heat strategy say they’re hoping to close that heat disparity gap. The hottest areas are in south…

News | October 29, 2020

King County wants to buy motels for emergency, affordable housing

On a chilly Monday afternoon, case manager Richard Gibson walked through the courtyard at Martin Court in the southwest corner of Seattle’s Georgetown neighborhood. The weather in the days before had taken a cold turn, and the colorful children’s playground he strode past sat vacant. Lining either side of the courtyard and parking lot were…

News | January 23, 2020

Land banking in the heart of Tacoma

There is a city block in the heart of Tacoma some people believe is not being put to its best use, stifling economic growth and blunting vitality. Four buildings and three parking lots now occupy 11 parcels along Tacoma Avenue, not far from the City-County Building. Six of the parcels have been tied up since 2005,…

Degree Program

Landscape Architecture (BLA, MLA, dual MArch-MLA, dual MLA-MUP)

At the University of Washington, we strive to create a program that meets the complex social, environmental, political, and aesthetic challenges of our time. Our program emphasis on urban ecological design addresses the multiple dimensions of today’s environmental challenges – infrastructure, culture, ecological literacy, and human and environmental health. With our focus on the intersection…

News | July 5, 2018

Lattes and a shot of hope: North Bend coffee house offers safe place for teens in need

Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death overall in our state. It’s a horrific reality that touches all ages – including teens, but there is a unique place where teens are finding help with not only suicide prevention, but any struggle. “I can never figure it out on my own,” said 16-year-old Aidan Sullivan….

Scholar

Laure Heland

Center & Lab

Law, Societies and Justice

LSJ courses analyze the meaning of justice, the methods used in efforts to realize it, the politics of rights, and the complex roles that law and legal institutions play in structuring social life. Many courses analyze these issues in comparative perspective. Coursework emphasizes close reading of key texts, active classroom engagement with complex ideas, and…

Degree Program

Law, Societies and Justice (BA, minor)

The Law, Societies and Justice Department offers students an opportunity to understand the complex roles of law in society. Law takes multiple forms and performs a wide array of important functions. At the same time, the work of law is shaped by numerous political, economic, social, cultural and geographic factors. Because of this, law “on…

Scholar

Laxminarsimha Daram Reddy

News | April 26, 2024

Leave the imported shrimp, take the local bivalves: sustainable seafood choices

Reported by Kim Malcolm and John O’Brien for KUOW, a NPR news station.  Seafood and the Pacific Northwest go hand in hand. Maybe you’re one of those people out fishing, clamming, and crabbing during the season. But if you’re more of a shopper, your options aren’t all local and sustainable. Jessica Gephart is an assistant professor…

Scholar

Leigh Anderson

Scholar

Lisa Hoffman

Scholar

Lisa Kelly

Center & Lab

Livable City Year

Most cities lack the capacity to fully address sustainability goals. Meanwhile, ideas and human capacity abound within universities. UW is a powerhouse of research and innovation on all aspects of urban life, but this knowledge isn’t always available to communities. Through Livable City Year, UW faculty and students from multiple disciplines work on high-priority projects…

News | June 13, 2019

Livable City Year celebrates partnership with City of Bellevue

This year’s Livable City Year partnership with the City of Bellevue mobilized 285 students from a variety of schools and colleges, representing all three UW campuses, to work on 30 projects in the city. The students’ research, findings and recommendations were on display at a celebration at Bellevue City Hall on Monday, June 3. The Bellevue City…

News | December 13, 2016

Livable City Year releases RFP, invites cities to partner for 2017-8 academic year

The University of Washington’s Livable City Year initiative is now accepting proposals from cities, counties, special districts and regional partnerships to partner with during the 2017-2018 academic year. UW Livable City Year (UW LCY) connects University of Washington faculty and students with a municipal partner for a full academic year to work on projects fostering…

News | August 25, 2020

Livable City Year research leads to publication on university–community partnerships

Anne Taufen, associate professor of Urban Studies at UW Tacoma, and Anneka Olson, graduate of UW Tacoma’s Community Planning MA program, recently published an article examining the Livable City Year program, a university-community partnership at the University of Washington. This work was partially supported through Urban@UW. “Especially in this time of polarization, with problems like…

News | November 14, 2019

Livable City Year: Jennifer Otten & Branden Born

Food brings people together. In the case of the academic collaboration between Jennifer Otten and Branden Born, so did food policy. Otten, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and core faculty in the Nutritional Sciences Program within the School of Public Health, met Born, an associate professor in Urban Design and Planning…

News | October 1, 2024

Loneliness in Washington tops national average

Reported by Christine Clarridge and Alex Fitzpatrick for Axios.  More than 43% of Washingtonians reported feeling lonely at least sometimes, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Why it matters: Loneliness isn’t just a feeling; it’s associated with serious mental and physical health impacts, including elevated likelihood of developing diabetes, cardiac risk,…

Scholar

Lynne Manzo

Scholar

Mabel Ezeonwu

Funding

MacArthur Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and…

Scholar

Maggie Beneke

News | October 18, 2022

Making cities more equitable: Meet Davon Woodard

It’s fair to say Davon Woodard is downright passionate about urban spaces—particularly making them more equitable and livable for the diverse communities that inhabit them. “Everyone has a right to a home (city) which is reflective of and respectful of their lived experiences,” he wrote. “My work is guided by that principle.” Davon is an…

News | March 7, 2016

Making Disruption a Force for Good – A letter from President Ana Mari Cauce

We hear a lot about “disruption” these days as businesses and institutions—and universities are no exception—are faced with the prospect of an upstart coming along and disrupting a portion of, or their entire, enterprise or industry. Disruption is often seen as a side effect of innovation, particularly in technology. Each of us carries an example…

News | March 1, 2018

Many homeless people take better care of their pets than themselves; this clinic helps them

Homeless people with pets are usually criticized and sometimes turned away from shelters. But that’s starting to change. His name is Bud the Amazing Wonder Dog, but the huge German shepherd-rottweiler mix was not feeling amazing or wonderful during his clinic visit, as he whimpered and tried to steady himself on an examination table too…

News | January 30, 2020

Many Seattleites are now Voluntarily Paying Rent to the Duwamish

To help right the wrongs of history, thousands of people are paying rent each month to the Duwamish Tribe. Called “Real Rent Duwamish,” the all-volunteer effort — in partnership with the tribe — facilitates monthly “rent” payments to the tribe. Launched in 2017, Real Rent Duwamish has had 4,524 donors so far, now totaling around $20,000…

Map

Map Kibera

Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya, was a blank spot on the map until November 2009, when young Kiberans created the first free and open digital map of their own community. Map Kibera has now grown into a complete interactive community information project. We work in Kibera, Mathare and Mukuru, use all these tools. Get in touch!

Scholar

Margaret O’Mara

Scholar

Marieka M. Klawitter

Scholar

Mark Purcell

Scholar

Mary D. Fan

Scholar

Mary Kay Gugerty

Scholar

Matthew Kelley

Research Beyond UW | New York University

McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research

The McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University Silver School of Social Work is committed to creating new knowledge about the root causes of poverty, developing evidence-based interventions to address its consequences, and rapidly translating research findings into action through policy and practice.

Scholar

Michelle Garner

News | August 1, 2016

Midsummer in Full Swing, A July Recap

While we are in the midst of a beautiful summer, things at the University of Washington and at Urban@UW are moving right along. We’ve seen some original writing, research, and even a podcast come out of community covering topics from marine noise pollution to data science and minimum wage to police reforms. The eScience Institute…

Degree Program

Minor in Urban Ecological Design

The Department of Landscape Architecture’s focus on Urban Ecological Design. This design practice integrates site, landscape, and people in a way that is functional, artful, and engaging. Urban Ecological Design is an interdisciplinary approach that addresses emerging local, regional, and global issues in five key areas: (1) design as activism, (2) design for ecological infrastructure,…

Scholar

Miranda Belarde-Lewis

Research Beyond UW | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

MIT CoLab

The Community Innovators Lab (CoLab) is a center for planning and development within the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP). CoLab supports the development and use of knowledge from excluded communities to deepen civic engagement, improve community practice, inform policy, mobilize community assets, and generate shared wealth. We believe that community knowledge can…

News | July 19, 2024

More Than 1 Trillion Microbes Live Inside the Average Tree Trunk

Reported by Erik Stokstad for Science  The wood inside the average tree might seem barren, but it’s home to an incredibly diverse array of life. More than 1 trillion fungi, bacteria, and other microbes live inside the average trunk, according to the most comprehensive survey yet conducted, comprising unique communities specialized to various tree species….

Research Beyond UW | University of Portland

Moreau Center

Inspired by the vision of Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross, rooted in Catholic social teaching, and guided by the mission of the University, Moreau Center programs center on direct service. Service is one of the key components in a Catholic education. Direct service involves directly connecting with people and…

Map

Mukuru on the Move

This map identifies the various community health assets that the residents of the Mukuru informal settlement in Nairobi identified in a series of workshops from 2008-2010

News | March 29, 2024

Muslims observing Ramadan at Tacoma ICE center aren’t receiving timely meals, immigration advocates say

Originally published by KUOW  Written by Diana Opong The month of Ramadan is a time of holy celebration, but some Muslim people held at the privately run Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma say they aren’t being given clean clothes daily, nor timely meals before and after fasting. Naeem, a 52-year-old man being held at…

Map | Nairobi

Nairobi Gender Violence Resources

​Resources for victims of Gender Violence including: outreach, counseling services, clinical services, legal services, religious institutions, coordination groups, security services and shelters

Scholar

Nancy Rivenburgh

Research Beyond UW | University of Albany

National Center for Excellence in Homeless Services

Launched in 2013, the National Center for Excellence in Homeless Services, located at the UAlbany School of Social Welfare, partners with social work programs, providers, and policymakers to strengthen services that transform the lives of all homeless children and adults. We emphasize: increasing homelessness content within our social work curriculum, expanding field placements in homeless…

News | March 12, 2021

Nature & Health Speaks: Beyond Inclusive Design with The Eli’s Park Project

The Eli’s Park Project is committed to carrying on Eli’s legacy of love through a community-led renovation of the Burke-Gilman Playground Park. They are working with the community to create an accessible, inclusive, nature-based park where people of all ages and abilities can find play and peace. The reimagining and manifestation of this new, inclusive Burke-Gilman Playground…

Center & Lab

Nature and Health

Nature and Health seeks to understand the connections between nature and human health and well-being. We work to translate that understanding into programs, practices, policies, and the design of healthcare, educational, and community settings that benefit all people and nature.

News | August 20, 2024

Need anti-withdrawal meds? In King County, call this 24/7 hotline

Reported by Eilis O’Neil for KUOW and NPR News People addicted to opioids in King County can call a new hotline and get a prescription right away for a drug that can help. Buprenorphine reduces symptoms of withdrawal and can help people stay off fentanyl and other opioids. Buprenorphine “does cut overdose risk by 50%,…

News | March 15, 2024

Neighborhood Poverty May Impact Women’s Ovarian Reserves

Reported by Lori Solomon at Health Day News FRIDAY, March 15, 2024 — Living in a neighborhood with greater poverty in adulthood is tied to lower ovarian reserve, according to a study published online March 5 in Menopause. Anwesha Pan, from the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues aimed to examine the association between…

News | January 11, 2018

New book ‘City Unsilenced’ explores protest and public space

Jeff Hou is a professor of landscape architecture and adjunct professor of urban design and planning in the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. His research, teaching and practice focus on community design, design activism, cross-cultural learning and engaging marginalized communities in planning and design. Hou has written extensively on the agency of citizens…

News | February 1, 2024

New nonpartisan AI nonprofit TrueMedia, led by Oren Etzioni, is making a political deepfake detector

Published in GeekWire By Todd Bishop A new nonprofit, nonpartisan technology organization called TrueMedia is developing an AI-powered tool to detect deepfake videos, photos, and audio, aiming to combat political disinformation in the leadup to the 2024 elections. Founded and led by Oren Etzioni, University of Washington professor and former CEO of the Allen Institute…

News | October 15, 2019

New Phase, Next Steps: Doorway 2.0 Fall Updates

The Doorway Project, a cross-campus and community-engaged project under Urban@UW’s Homelessness Research Initiative, has been busy! Check out their activities and plans for the future in their latest blog post:   Welcome to the Doorway Project blog! As a part of the new phase of the project, which we are calling Doorway Project 2.0, we…

Funding

New Profit – Social Entrepreneurship for Equity

New Profit is currently committed to improving social mobility in the United States by supporting organizations with demonstrated, impressive track records of performance, strong appetites for growth, and high potential for social impact.

News | November 20, 2020

New report by UDP PhD Candidate Katie Idziorek: Toward Universal Access

Urban Design & Planning PhD candidate Katie Idziorek is a co-author on a significant new report published this month: Toward Universal Access: A Case Study in the Los Angeles and Puget Sound Regions. Read an excerpt below:   Approximately 61 million U.S. adults—one quarter of the adult population—live with some form of disability. The Americans with Disabilities…

News | August 11, 2021

New UW collaboratory to support equitable and just climate action

An interdisciplinary group of University of Washington researchers has teamed with Front and Centered to create an innovative Collaboratory to promote just and equitable climate action. The Collaboratory aims to respond to climate change impacts with attention to equitable mitigation and adaptation solutions. It will feature three linked platforms to achieve this goal through a…

News | May 2, 2024

New York cities plagued by blackouts due to climate change, study finds

Written by Saul Elbein for The Hill. Climate change is pushing some New York City neighborhoods into dozens of nearly daylong blackouts per year, a new study has found. Large swaths of the state’s principal towns and cities faced repeated, protracted and dangerous weather-driven power outages between 2017 and 2020, according to findings published Wednesday in…

News | February 12, 2016

New! Urban Map Gallery

We’ve created a new urban map gallery to explore how other people and organizations are studying and visualizing data. The gallery features seven cities facing different social, economic, and geographic issues. This curation is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather provide insight and inspiration. Maps included track everything from sound to subway…

Degree Program

Nonprofit Management Certificate

Gives you the tools and framework needed to meet the increasing challenges facing the nonprofit sector today.

News | November 16, 2016

NYC, Chicago mayors join Seattle’s Ed Murray is support of “sanctuary cities” for immigrants

SEATTLE — Democratic mayors of major U.S. cities that have long had cool relationships with federal immigration officials say they’ll do all they can to protect residents from deportation, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s vows to withhold potentially millions of dollars in taxpayer money if they don’t cooperate. New York’s Bill de Blasio, Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel…

News | March 29, 2024

Office-to-residential conversion is a trendy idea for downtown resurgence — but has big challenges

Originally published in Geekwire Written by Chuck Wolfe, longtime affiliate associate professor in College of Built Environments at the University of Washington. Office-to-residential conversions are frequent fodder in discussions of the post-pandemic city, downtown regeneration, and hopes to contain rising housing costs. Remote work is here to stay, especially in hybrid form in the tech-centric…

News | September 17, 2021

On the 20th anniversary of its Superfund listing, the Duwamish River faces a triple threat

This opinion article was originally written by Paulina López, James Rasmussen, and BJ Cummings, manager of community engagement programs at the University of Washington. This Monday will mark 20 years since Seattle’s hometown river was declared a Superfund site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Duwamish River’s history is a case study of environmental injustices. The vibrant, marginalized, low-income and…

News | July 1, 2022

Once enslaved, this man helped build Tacoma; his great-granddaughter wants you to know him

He soldiered in the Civil War, helped build Tacoma, became a force in Washington politics and chased the Alaska Gold Rush. John N. Conna, a Black man who was enslaved for the first part of his life, did all of that once he gained his freedom — and more. But his story has mostly vanished…

News | April 7, 2016

One Year On, Seattle Explores Impact Of $15 Minimum Wage Law

NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with University of Washington Professor Jacob Vigdor about the state of the minimum wage in Seattle, as California and New York move to lift their minimum wages to $15. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Now, let’s dig deeper into what has happened in Seattle, one of the first big cities to pass that…

News | July 16, 2020

Opportunities to engage UW faculty and students to address COVID-19

In recognition of the intense needs of local governments around COVID-19 response and recovery, the LCY program has compiled a list of existing UW courses whose faculty and students are seeking to assist local communities in COVID-related projects. Most projects can start in Autumn 2020 — some as early as Summer 2020. The list of…

News | September 16, 2016

PARK(ing) Day+ and Little Collective’s “Bees and Salmon”

Today you may notice some new public spaces in your neighborhood; but look fast, because they will be gone by Sunday. Now a global phenomenon, PARK(ing) day is a few hours per year when cities endeavor to convert city spaces into public places called parklets. The parklet’s origins are tied to ReBar, a San Francisco…

News | November 27, 2018

Parks help cities – but only if people use them

Written by Thaisa Way, faculty director of Urban@UW and Professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture in the College of Built Environments. In cities, access to parks is strongly linked with better health for both people and neighborhoods. Children suffer higher rates of obesity when they grow up in urban areas without a park in easy reach. Because low-income neighborhoods have fewer green spaces, poorer…

News | February 8, 2022

Pedestrian deaths climb in Seattle, despite city’s pledge to eliminate them

Pedestrian fatalities can affect anybody, but Seattle’s Black, homeless, and senior communities are disproportionately impacted. Seattle’s pedestrian fatality rate was 150% higher in the five years after the launch of Vision Zero compared to the five years before, a KUOW analysis of SDOT data found. Yet — cars have been hitting pedestrians less often. That…

Degree Program

Ph.D. Concentration in Public Policy & Management

The Concentration in Public Policy and Management offers University of Washington Ph.D. students in the social sciences and related applied fields an opportunity to broaden their backgrounds and credentials for the job market. This is valuable for students seeking positions in which public policy and management perspectives are pertinent, whether in the academic, government, or…

Degree Program

PhD in Public Policy and Management

Solutions to society's greatest challenges require an interdisciplinary approach and broad and deep understanding of the many factors that shape and drive policy decisions. The Evans School Ph.D. program is a rigorous and rewarding educational experience for those who believe in the necessity of evidence-based, values-driven solutions.

Scholar

Pierpaolo Mudu

News | July 28, 2023

Plans Develop for High-Speed Rail in the PNW

With a growing population in the Pacific Northwest, the call for better public transportation heightens. This March, Washington’s State Legislature signed off on a transportation milestone, allocating $150 million to a high-speed connection between Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. Though this funding could reduce congestion, cut carbon emissions, and better connect these coastal cities, a…

News | April 28, 2020

PODCAST: An Indigenous community’s fight for educational equity and cultural reclamation

A recent award-winning study by University of Washington College of Education Assistant Professor Shaneé Washington explores the challenges and possibilities for Indigenous families, community members and district educators to engage with one another in culturally sustaining and revitalizing ways. In a new podcast, Washington discusses her study, “Family-School-Community (Dis)Engagement: An Indigenous Community’s Fight for Educational Equity and Cultural…

News | October 17, 2019

Pop-up galleries and data: Visualizing the lives of homeless people and their animals

Sparked by a grant from the UW Population Health Initiative, the UW’s Center for One Health Research created a series of pop-up galleries featuring autobiographical photographs made by people experiencing homelessness with their animal companions. The first gallery was Oct. 4 in UW’s Red Square. Other pop-up gallery events took place in Occidental Square in Seattle’s Pioneer Square district; in Cal…

Center & Lab

Population Health Initiative

The University of Washington aspires to be the world’s leading university in population health. On May 3, 2016, President Ana Mari Cauce launched a groundbreaking Population Health Initiative by inviting the University community and partners to join in developing a 25-year vision to advance the health of people around the world by leveraging capabilities and…

News | August 24, 2020

Population Health Initiative announces award of 14 COVID-19 population health equity research grants

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative announced the award of approximately $265,000 in COVID-19 population health equity research grants to 14 different teams of UW faculty researchers and community leaders. Funding was partially matched by additional school, college, departmental, and external funds, bringing the total value of these awards to roughly $378,000. These population health equity…

News | September 9, 2019

Project aims to boost care for opioid use among homeless

On August 21, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the University of Washington’s Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI) announced the Meds-First Initiative that expands an innovative approach to treating opioid-use disorder for high-acuity populations to four locations in Washington. The treatment sites are located across the state in North Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma and Walla Walla. “Medication…

News | September 17, 2020

Project Highlight: Seattle Street Sink

For many living unsheltered, access to a place to wash up is hard to come by. During the pandemic, it is more important than ever to have accessible hygiene stations. The Real Change Advocacy Department partnered with University of Washington College of Built Environments faculty to design and install environmentally friendly “street sinks”. On May…

Research Beyond UW | Seattle University

Project on Family Homelessness

The goals of the Project on Family Homelessness are to increase public awareness and understanding of family homelessness and its causes and solutions, and to engage the public to end family homelessness.

News | April 25, 2019

Project Sidewalk helps users map accessibility around Seattle, other cities

About 3.6 million adults in the United States use a wheelchair to get around, according to census data. But unless you’re one of those people, you might not know how hard it is to get around your city. Now people can help map out accessibility here in Seattle. University of Washington researchers have led the development…

News | June 22, 2020

Protestors want Seattle de-gentrified – This is how it could happen

For more than a week, protesters against police brutality and racial injustice have occupied a six-block stretch of a Seattle neighborhood and turned it into a festive hub for their demonstrations. They named it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ, since renamed the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), after police withdrew from a police…

News | January 5, 2023

Public art in Seattle’s light rail stations has a deeper backstory than you’d think

The stainless-steel blob in an airport. The oversized, poured-concrete nothing in a plaza. The whimsically rendered, locally iconic animals — salmon for Seattle, pelicans for Pensacola — garnishing a park. It’s no secret: Most public art is depressingly perfunctory. Which is to say: If you care about getting it right, public art has to be…

News | May 4, 2016

Quick Recap: A Busy April!

April saw a lot of wonderful developments here at the University of Washington, here’s a quick recap: Our first Office Hours interview with John Vidale (more coming of these soon!) UW researchers continued to explore the effects of a $15/hr minimum wage. PBS premiered their 10 Parks that Changed America program featuring our own Thaisa…

News | May 29, 2016

Quick Recap: Here’s What Happened in May!

May saw a lot of wonderful events, visitors, and research coming out of the University of Washington community. Here’s a quick recap: The CBE PhD Program looked at the future of cities Patricia Romero Lankao visited to talk about the human dimension of climate change Seattle’s “diverse neighborhoods” are actually surprisingly segregated New lighting research…

News | April 17, 2024

Quiet! Our Loud World Is Making Us Sick

Written by Joanne Silberner for Scientific America. Ten years ago Jamie Banks started working from her home in the town of ­Lincoln, Mass. After a couple of months, the continuing racket from landscaping machines began to feel unendurable, even when she was inside her home. “This horrible noise was going on for hours every day, every…

News | November 27, 2023

RAC projects learning together, building momentum

Co-creation sessions with Duwamish Valley community members and stakeholders that focused on identifying priorities, values, and aspirations for community open space in their neighborhoods. (Credit: Maron Bernardino) After their launch in spring of this year, the two inaugural projects of the Research to Action Collaboratory have been making progress in key ways. Supported by Urban@UW,…

Scholar

Rachel Berney

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Rachel Endo

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Rachel Fyall

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Rachel R. Chapman

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Rachel Vaughn

News | February 6, 2021

Racial equity within built environment design practice

Originally written by Jake Minden, MLA Candidate 2021. In my final year of the MLA program, I’ve been given the opportunity to participate in the Applied Research Consortium (ARC), a new program within the college that links graduate students, faculty members, and firms to research a topic that aligns student interest, faculty expertise, and firm…

News | July 9, 2020

Racial justice is an urban issue: A curated list of resources from UW BIPOC scholars

Racial injustice is not a new issue. Segregation and discrimination on the basis of race has long been tied to the built environments across the country, from redlining and restrictive covenants in the mid-1900s, to white flight and suburbanization after World War II, to the current trends of gentrification and displacement in cities throughout the…

Scholar

Ralina L. Joseph

News | August 31, 2021

Red-lining, race, and wealth continue to form borders between Seattle voters

There’s a lot we can glean from Seattle’s voting habits in each election, from how the city has skewed more and more progressive in the leaders it’s elected in recent years, to how conservative interests still remain present despite that fact. During the August mayoral primary, though, the candidates voters chose painted an even broader…

News | July 12, 2023

Redlining Continues to Reverberate in Seattle Nearly a Century Later in Pedestrian Deaths

Could the decades-old government housing discrimination program, commonly called redlining, have anything to do with pedestrian fatalities today? According to a recent national study that compared federal redlining maps of the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation with data on 2010–2019 pedestrian deaths from the national Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the answer is yes. A recent study…

News | December 20, 2016

Reflections on Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change

On November 7th and 8th Urban@UW, in collaboration with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group (CIG), hosted a symposium to begin transdisciplinary conversation on the multifaceted dynamics and consequences of Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change (UEJ). Below are some reflections from this event, and a sample of the resources we’ll…

News | September 16, 2024

Register Today for Urban@UW’s presentation at Climate Week NYC

Urban@UW is heading to the big apple for Climate Week NYC, the largest international conference of business leaders, political change makers, scientists, and civil society representatives working for climate action. Rachel Berney, Faculty Director, and Kate Landis, Program Manager, will present “Call Me, Maybe? University-Community Partnerships for a Greener Tomorrow” on Monday, 9/23, from 5-7PM….

News | June 17, 2024

Rekindling Our Relationship with Wildfire

Written for the Climate One podcast, hosted by Greg Dalton and Ariana Brocious. Summer is just around the corner, and in addition to travel and vacation, that also means peak wildfire season. Recently we’ve seen some of the most destructive wildfires in recorded history. The images on the news of orange skies and opaque haze…

News | October 1, 2020

Renée Cheng: Change Agency, Value Change

Collisions are violent. The greater the mass or velocity of objects, the greater the energy released. The crises of the pandemic, economic crash, and social justice outcries are massive and still accelerating. In the wake of their collision, they will reveal new questions for our profession—and newfound energy to address them. Previously, architects pondering whether…

News | December 23, 2021

Renovated Mills Offer a Perk in the Age of Social Distancing: Space

On a typical evening at the Wool Factory, a renovated textile mill in Charlottesville, Va., guests savor local wine and hors d’oeuvres in a spacious courtyard decorated with festive string lights. Between bites and sips, their eyes might gaze at the factory, a 100-year-old red brick building where as many as 200 workers once made military…

Research Beyond UW | New York University

Research, Education, and Advocacy to Combat Homelessness (REACH)

Research, Education & Advocacy to Combat Homelessness (REACH) is the law school’s primary student organization dedicated to directly serving the local homeless community and raising the profile of poverty law issues within the law school. REACH operates 2 weekly clinics in soup kitchens near NYU, where law students provide advice and referral on a wide…

News | September 23, 2021

Returning to the U District: Recovering from the pandemic with more changes ahead

The last 18 months have been hard for Mark Pinkaow and his wife Picha, owners of the University District restaurant Mark Thai Food Box. When COVID-19 largely shut down Seattle in March 2020, they changed the eatery’s format to takeout-only and barely scraped by. They opened, then closed again repeatedly over the next year due…

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Reuben Deleon

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Rick Mohler

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Rob Corser

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Robert Pekkanen

Funding

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Pioneering Ideas and a Culture of Health

The goal of the Pioneering Ideas Brief Proposal funding opportunity is to explore; to look into the future and put health first as we design for changes in how we live, learn, work and play; to wade into uncharted territory in order to better understand what new trends, opportunities and breakthrough ideas can enable everyone…

Scholar

Ronald J. Kasprisin

Funding

Rose Foundation – Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund

The Foundation is accepting applications to its Puget Sound Stewardship and Mitigation Fund, which supports community-based efforts to mitigate past pollution runoff and protect or improve the water quality of Puget Sound. The foundation is particularly interested in proposals that benefit water quality in the following areas: the waters of central Puget Sound, especially Elliott…

Funding

Royalty Research Fund

The purpose of the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) is to advance new directions in research, particularly in disciplines for which external funding opportunities are minimal, and/or; for faculty who are junior in rank, and/or; in cases where funding may provide unique opportunities to increase applicants’ competitiveness for subsequent funding. Proposals must demonstrate a high probability…

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Rubén Casas

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Sally Clark

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Samuel Kay

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Sarah Elwood

News | October 9, 2018

Save the Date for the next Doorway Project Pop-Up

Doorway Project Pop-Up cafe is coming to the HUB South Ballroom at the UW Seattle Campus, 12-4pm, Thursday, October 18th. Learn more about addressing youth homelessness. Stop by and get connected to resources for housing, education, food, and more. Everyone is invited to this event! Food, drinks, and art are provided through the pay-it-forward cafe…

News | July 14, 2020

Saving Seattle’s pandemic and protest murals

In Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, a three-eyed alien is currently offering free hugs in an alcove of Broadway Market. Less than two miles away, a giant pink sloth tells Pioneer Square passersby to “hang in there.” It’s not just creatures populating the plywood covering so many Seattle businesses. Starry skies, cotton candy clouds, many gardens’ worth of flowers…

News | August 26, 2022

Seattle Approaches to Homelessness Highlighted in NYT Guest Essay

Urban@UW occasionally shares opinion pieces that touch on research related to urban topics. Here, we share a guest essay in the New York Times, titled, “Something Better Than a Tent for the Homeless”: The needs of homeowners and businesses and those of people who are unsheltered often conflict. Community leaders, faced with increasing crime and…

News | November 5, 2019

Seattle area has undergone record growth. Now voters may reshape its politics.

The Seattle region has more of almost everything than it did just six years ago, when voters chose to elect City Council members by districts. The area has added 135,000 homes, but has seen its population swell by 400,000. Homelessness has spiked by a third. Amazon’s workforce here has exploded from 13,000 to nearly 55,000….

News | July 29, 2021

Seattle Black faith leaders urge Mayor Durkan not to sign amended density bonus bill

Update: Council Bill 120081 was signed into law on by Mayor Durkan on July 9, 2021. Critics are still hoping that the amended law can be repealed. Critics are demanding a return to the 80% AMI threshold for affordable housing developed on land owned by religious institutions. It was a long-awaited day, one that was supposed to mark…

Center & Lab

Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project

The Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project represents a unique collaboration involving community groups, UW faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and their efforts to map, archive and disseminate historic information on racial segregation and civil rights activism within Seattle.

Funding

Seattle Foundation

Few regions in the world can match Seattle’s current growth and prosperity. But accompanying our good fortune are great challenges, including the widening disparities between rich and poor. Such inequities weaken the vibrancy of our community. Philanthropy can—and must—step in. Using our philanthropic expertise, deep roots in the community and network of partners, Seattle Foundation…

News | July 16, 2020

Seattle groups present proposal to defund police department, invest in community

On July 8, Seattle and King County groups proposed several ways to allocate money from defunding the Seattle Police Department, all of which involve reinvesting in community-based programs. The plan comes as thousands of people have been protesting for weeks, marching in the streets in Seattle and across the country fighting against police brutality and systemic…

News | August 28, 2018

Seattle Growth Podcast 5.4: Homelessness and City Hall

The fifth season of the Seattle Growth Podcast continues the wide-ranging conversation about the city’s growing homelessness crisis. Episode 4 takes you behind the scenes at Seattle City Hall as the City Council weighed a controversial “head tax” on companies to raise more money to address the crisis. City Council member Teresa Mosqueda shares her opinion on the failed campaign and…

News | June 14, 2019

Seattle Growth Podcast 6.1: Finding community in a dynamic city

How do you find community in a city as dynamic as Seattle? Newcomers look for ways to connect to people and organizations. Longtime residents try to adjust to a city that looks and feels different than it did even five years ago. Season six of the Seattle Growth Podcast will bring diverse perspectives on how to build…

News | August 14, 2019

Seattle Growth Podcast 6.10: Case studies in building ‘neighborhood’ communities

Season six of the Seattle Growth Podcast, produced by UW Foster School of Business professor of marketing Jeff Shulman, has explored the many ways that Seattleites are building or finding a sense of community in a city that is growing and changing so rapidly. Episode 6.10 looks at efforts to build community within, well, communities. Neighborhoods…

News | October 3, 2019

Seattle Growth Podcast 6.11: Building community among filmmakers and film lovers

Seattle is a city of cinephiles. And film lovers and film makers, like other affinity groups, tend to seek each other out. Season six of the Seattle Growth Podcast continues its exploration of the myriad communities that have formed as the city grows and changes. Episode 11 introduces communities built around the movies. Vivian Hua, a local writer, filmmaker…

News | August 7, 2019

Seattle Growth Podcast 6.8: Empowering youth and underserved communities

“Community” is essential to people of all ages. As season six of the Seattle Growth Podcast by UW Foster School of Business professor of Marketing Jeff Shulman continues to explore how Seattleites are building or finding a sense of community in a city that is growing and changing so rapidly, episode 6.8 introduces two people who are committed to…

News | January 9, 2024

Seattle now has highest minimum wage of any major city in the United States

As of Jan. 1, Seattle hiked its minimum wage to $19.97 an hour for workers at larger companies like Starbucks. That’s the highest minimum wage of any major city in the U.S. Former labor leader David Rolf, who drove the original push for a higher minimum wage law in Seattle and SeaTac around a decade…

News | July 10, 2024

Seattle Nurses Take Heart Care to the Streets

Written by Christine Clarridge for Axios. Two Harborview nurses are leaving the hospital to make “house calls” at tents, bus stops and cars to bring life-saving heart care to people where they are. Why it matters: The Community Heart Failure Program not only stabilizes patients’ cardiac health but also reduces hospital admissions, lengths of stay…

News | June 30, 2020

Seattle OKs transfer of old UW laundry near Mount Baker light rail station to build affordable housing

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously on June 22 to acquire a former UW Medical Center laundry next to the Mount Baker light rail station to develop affordable housing. The transfer comes at no cost to the city, and the project will count toward the 450 units of affordable housing the university agreed to build when the council…

Map | Seattle

Seattle Police Department Data Maps

These maps shows all the Police responses to 9-1-1 calls within the city up to the last 24 hours. To protect the security of a scene, the safety of officers and the public, and sensitive ongoing investigation, these events will populate the map only after the incident is considered safe to close out.

News | November 18, 2024

Seattle renters, workers need parking, but its cost can be shocking

Reported for The Seattle Times by Jessica Fu When Evelyn Burnett, 25, began her Seattle apartment search this past summer, she knew she’d have to budget for parking. But she was not prepared for the prices she encountered. Across the four rental buildings that she toured, parking fees ranged from $250 to $350 per month….

News | September 23, 2020

Seattle-area families of color are talking about improving remote education. Here are some of their ideas.

Regina Elmi is the executive director of the Somali Parent Education Board. Ann Ishimaru is associate professor of education at the University of Washington. The authors wrote this piece along with 10 other African American, Somali, Latina and Vietnamese parent leaders from the Renton, Federal Way, Kent, Highline and Seattle school districts. Thousands of families…

News | May 10, 2019

Seattle-area universities and colleges declare Affordable Housing Week, May 13-17

They join 25 cities and King County in recognizing the importance of safe, healthy, affordable housing. The presidents of four Seattle-area universities and colleges have joined forces to declare May 13-17, 2019 as Affordable Housing Week on their campuses. Dr. John Mosby, president of Highline College; Dr. Daniel J. Martin, president of Seattle Pacific University;…

News | September 25, 2018

Seattle-area women of color share how they navigate the workplace

Seven years ago, right before I moved to the United States from Singapore, the concept of equality was a resounding reassurance offered wherever I would go. Friends, neighbors and family members would say, “Everyone is equal there … you just have to work hard.” The cliché hits me in full force in hindsight, but back…

News | June 30, 2020

Seattle’s activist-occupied zone is just the latest in a long history of movements and protests

The six blocks of occupied Seattle streets now known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or “CHOP”, have become a focal point of the nationwide anti-racist protests, eliciting both encouragement and concern. But for this Pacific Northwest city, it is far from the first time in the radical spotlight. Seattle has a long and storied history of…

News | June 11, 2019

Seattle’s forgotten street community: UW anthropologist talks about the unique circumstances of vehicle residency

From tiny houses to encampment sweeps, from proposed business taxes to small armies of volunteers, Seattle’s homeless crisis has sparked a series of possible solutions, along with controversy. But often missing from conversations about “homelessness,” says the University of Washington’s Graham Pruss, is attention to people who live in their vehicles. More than 11,000 people are…

News | July 12, 2022

Seattle’s Homelessness Chief Worries Inflation Will Erode Progress

The head of Seattle’s new agency responding to homelessness — in a city with one of the largest unhoused populations in the US — is concerned more people are about to land on the street because of inflation and rising prices for necessities like gas. With the pandemic making the challenges of homelessness more acute and more visible, Margaret…

News | October 24, 2019

Seattle’s treasured P-Patch community gardens face uncertain future

Have you stumbled on a P-Patch community garden in your neighborhood? These beehives of gardening and community populate every corner of Seattle. Both the gardens and the people are as diverse as the neighborhoods they serve. From sprawling production farms to tiny lots, each provides a green respite, an open and interactive space. To those…

News | April 26, 2024

Seattle’s troubled past and present suggest a new approach to mental health

Written by Will James, Sydney Brownstone, and Esme Jimenez as part of the series “Lost Patients” for KUOW, an NPR Station. Edward Moore, a 32-year-old sailor, was discovered, near freezing and living in a tattered tent on the shore near current day Seattle in 1854. At the time, Washington was still a territory and Seattle…

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Seema Clifasefi

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Shaneé A. Washington

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Sharon Kioko

News | September 13, 2024

Shhh! The orcas can’t hear their dinner

Reported by John Ryan for KUOW/NPR When an orca hunts salmon, it clicks and buzzes. It sends a beam of sounds from its nasal passages into the murky depths in hopes that the sound waves will bounce back and reveal the location of its next nutritious meal. Those hopes are often dashed when noise from…

Scholar

Shirley J. Yee

News | August 23, 2023

Should Governments Be Blamed for Climate Change? How One Lawsuit Could Change US Policies

A landmark ruling saying Montana has a constitutional duty to guard residents from the harmful effects of climate change could have wider implications, environmental experts said. In a decision Monday lauded by activists as a potential turning point for the environmental movement, District Court Judge Kathy Seeley sided with young plaintiffs who claimed state policies…

News | February 1, 2024

Should social media pay for addicting kids? Seattle schools lawsuit gains steam

Reported by KUOW Written by Sami West A year into Seattle Public Schools’ lawsuit against social media companies, the case is gaining traction. More than 50 school districts in Washington state — and dozens more across the country — have joined Seattle’s lawsuit. Seattle became the first district to sue social media platforms last January,…

News | December 15, 2017

Skid Road: The intersection of health and homelessness

After years of caring for the homeless in the streets and dilapidated motels of Richmond, Virginia, nurse Josephine Ensign became homeless herself. Many of her patients were prostitutes—some as young as 15—and her conscience no longer allowed her to adhere to her clinic’s policies. Though she was Christian, she was fired for referring many of…

News | April 22, 2024

Skip the Traffic: Commuters Turn to Ferries to Get Around

Written by Linda Baker for The New York Times. As remote work reshapes the way people live and travel around cities, Americans are taking to the waterways not only as part of their commute but also as part of their daily lives. Some coastal cities are seeing ferry ridership bounce back after a decline during…

Research Beyond UW | Harvard University

Social Agency Lab

The Social Agency Lab is a research group at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. The lab studies the ways in which individuals, institutions and organizations shape social outcomes in cities.

Degree Program

Social Welfare (BA, PhD) / Social Work (MSW)

We offer nationally recognized academic programs, leading edge research, and a wide range of supervised field education opportunities to help you build professional expertise, hone investigative skills, and foster the ability to lead and serve in a multicultural world. These rich learning opportunities allow you to connect and collaborate with social work students, committed faculty…

Degree Program

Sociology (Major, PhD)

The Department of Sociology at the University of Washington is one of the oldest Sociology departments in the country. Our distinguished faculty is actively engaged in both research and teaching, and we aim to bring excitement about Sociology to all our interactions with students. Our undergraduate major graduates several hundred students each year, and offers…

News | July 16, 2024

SPARK Grant Recipients Win Big with a Social Justice Jacket

Reported by Kate Landis for Urban@UW What if a denim jacket could tell the stories of people impacted by housing inequality across the country? Resistive Threads, a project that was awarded a Urban@UW SPARK grant in 2023, was recently awarded a Honorable Mention at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) conference,…

News | November 7, 2023

Spark Grants Complete Collaborative Research on Artificial Turf, Food Bank Home Delivery, and Urban Streetwear

An electronic denim jacket, an artistic collaboration to depict Black residents’ urban experiences. (credit: Bret Halperin) Over the past year, three teams of researchers from the University of Washington tackled a host of urban challenges in our region with the support of Urban@UW’s Spark Grants. In September 2022,  Urban@UW awarded $20,000 to each team in…

News | November 16, 2021

Spark Grants foster research on community-centered environmental infrastructure, supporting collaborations amidst pandemic

Over the past year, two teams of researchers from the University of Washington tackled a host of urban challenges in our region with the support of Urban@UW’s Research Spark Grants. In August 2020 grants of up to $20,000 were awarded to amplify collaborative research-to-practice with a focus on today’s urban issues. Two UW teams of…

News | October 25, 2022

Sparking Climate Connections – UW Lightning Talks on Climate Change

Addressing our climate crisis can’t be done alone; this all-hands-on-deck moment requires as many voices, disciplines and perspectives as possible to forge connections that will inspire collective action. Urban@UW and the EarthLab Advisory Board of Deans invite you to participate in an exciting two-part event bringing together the rich variety of climate change related research…

News | August 20, 2020

Special Collections Library launches new digital exhibit on protest history in Seattle

For the last few months, Abbey Maynard, Student Reference Assistant and Visual Materials Student Assistant at the UW Libraries Special Collections, has been working on creating a new digital exhibit: We Are All The Conspiracy: The Day After Protest, Seattle 7, and Community Activism in 1970s Seattle, featuring material about the Seattle Liberation Front (SLF), a political…

News | May 26, 2020

SPH partners with state health department to reach vulnerable communities about COVID-19

What do communities most vulnerable to COVID-19 need to know about the disease, and what are the most effective methods for reaching them? These are questions a partnership between the University of Washington School of Public Health and the Washington State Department of Health seeks to answer. To better understand the information needs of communities…

Scholar

Stan de Mello

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Stephanie Farquhar

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Stephen Kosack

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Stephen Meyers

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Stephen Page

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Steve Herbert

Map | Seattle

Stewardship Mapping in the Seattle Area

The goal of stewardship mapping in the Seattle area is to reveal the impacts of environmental stewardship by identifying and mapping all participating organizations. What kinds of organizations participate in environmental stewardship? Where do they work? How do they work together?

News | June 26, 2015

Strong Communities Successful Kids by Kevin Haggerty

Presented at the June 1st Urban@UW Launch

News | February 16, 2024

Student Housing Has a New Mantra: Bigger Is Better

Written by Kevin Williams for The New York Times Off-campus complexes are getting larger, with some being home to more than 1,500 students, and being built on prime parcels of land as close to campus as possible. When the Standard, an off-campus student housing complex, opened in the fall in Bloomington, Ind., welcoming its first…

News | August 20, 2018

Student volunteers help expand UW’s outreach to homeless youth

It started with a Sunday afternoon café outside a community center last December — the University of Washington’s new initiative to reach homeless youth around the U District. In the eight months since, the UW’s effort, known as The Doorway Project, has offered a café in the neighborhood each quarter, while students have helped add services — from…

News | August 3, 2018

Students push public transit policy

Public transit systems are lifelines that connect people to jobs, education and opportunity. And students at the University of Washington School of Public Health are working to give Seattle residents a bit more slack. Students met with the Seattle City Council’s Sustainability & Transportation Committee last month to discuss ways to expand access to public…

News | July 21, 2016

Study: Perceived threats from police officers, black men predict support for policing reforms

At a time of intense national attention on law enforcement and race, a new University of Washington study suggests that racially based fear plays a role in public support for policing reforms. The research, conducted by UW postdoctoral researcher Allison Skinner and published online July 12 in the open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology, used a…

Scholar

Sue Sohng

News | September 12, 2018

Summer Design/Build Studio 2018

Food and the ability to prepare it are fundamental components of life. Places of food preparation–whether a home kitchen or a fire pit–serve not only their most explicit functions but also act as cultural gathering spaces for families and communities. Food preparation poses particularly unique challenges in Seattle’s homeless communities for individuals, families and larger…

Scholar

Tad Hirsch

News | August 14, 2019

Tech companies step up to fund affordable housing, but experts say it’s not enough to curb shortages

Microsoft pledged $500 million for affordable housing in January. Five months later, Google said it would invest $1 billion to help the Bay Area housing crisis. Amazon and Salesforce also announced contributions of their own this year. Major tech companies are stepping up to help mitigate affordable housing shortages, caused in part by the influx of high-income labor they have imported to the…

Center & Lab

Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA)

The Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA) at the University of Washington Information School explores the design, use, and effects of information and communication technologies in communities facing social and economic challenges. With experience in over 50 countries, TASCHA brings together a multidisciplinary network of researchers, practitioners, and policy experts to advance knowledge, create public…

News | October 21, 2020

That sink in the alley is supposed to be there

A sink is nestled in the University District alley between 15th Avenue Northeast and The Ave. It’s bolted to a trough of plants. It appeared in May. Another sink just like it is up The Ave on 47th Avenue Northeast. One was also placed at the University Heights community center along 50th Avenue Northeast. The…

News | September 26, 2016

The Annie E. Casey Foundation to Support MetroLab Network’s Big Data + Human Services Lab

The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which aims to improve delivery of human services to children and families by focusing on big data solutions with cities, countries, and universities, will support MetroLab Network’s Big Data + Human Services Lab. MetroLab Network is pleased to announce that the Annie E. Casey Foundation will be supporting the formation…

Research Beyond UW | University College of London

The Bartlett Development Planning Unit

The Development Planning Unit conducts world-leading research and postgraduate teaching that helps to build the capacity of national governments, local authorities, NGOs, aid agencies and businesses working towards socially just and sustainable development in the global south. We are part of The Bartlett: UCL's global faculty of the built environment.

Center & Lab

The Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity

The CCDE strives to be a space where our community of students, faculty, staff, and alumni gather to promote greater equity. Through research collaborations, networking opportunities, action-oriented classes, mentorship programs, and community events we engage in dialogue to think critically about race and its intersections, to interrupt privilege, and ultimately to change the structures of…

Research Beyond UW | Case Western Reserve University

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development

The Center on Urban Poverty and Community Development (the Poverty Center) works to inform public policy and program planning through data and analysis to address urban poverty, its causes, and its impact on communities and their residents. Since our founding in 1988, our mission has broadened to understand and address poverty by delving into its…

News | December 16, 2019

The Central District has lost over a dozen of its Black churches. The rest may still be saved

There’s little doubt that The Nehemiah Initiative faces an immense challenge combating the displacement of African Americans from central Seattle. When you drive through the Central District today, you see gentrification in its stark reality. New market-rate buildings line the intersections of 23rd Avenue and East Union Street, as well as 23rd and South Jackson…

News | January 16, 2019

The deed to your Seattle-area home may contain racist language. Here’s how to fix it.

Starting in the 1920s, covenants in force throughout the region allowed only white people to own property in most neighborhoods in Seattle. The covenants were outlawed in the 1960s, but now a new state law allows property owners to strike them from a property deed. They date back to a time when racial discrimination was…

News | May 22, 2021

The Doorway Project & U-District Community Partners Community Resource Fair

The Doorway Project is a University of Washington and YouthCare-led initiative focusing on addressing youth homelessness in the University District through continuous community-engaged collaboration with U-District service providers and community members. They are currently in Phase 1 of a four-year plan, developed through the lens of the project’s legislative intent. The primary aim of the…

News | October 27, 2020

The Doorway Project October Update

Urban@UW is a proud partner in The Doorway Project, a cross-campus and community-engaged project under the Homelessness Research Initiative. Below we share their quarterly update: Last month, The Doorway Project, in collaboration with University District Youth Center, hosted a community dialogue (Real Talk Thursday) on the topic of ‘voter apathy.’ That conversation feels even more relevant…

News | April 23, 2019

The Doorway Project: Spring Pop-Up Cafe

Come join The Doorway Project for lunch, coffee and community at their final Pop-Up Cafe and Town Hall event at the UW School of Social Work. They will be hosting a no-cost vet clinic for folks experiencing homelessness or housing instability and their pets, sponsored by the UW Center for One Health Research. Come add…

News | February 6, 2018

The Doorway project’s second pop-up cafe

Save The Date: The Doorway Project’s second pop-up cafe will be open on Sunday February 25, from 2:00pm-4:00pm at the University Heights Center, 5031 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98105. Everyone is welcome to attend this free, family-friendly event to listen to live music, enjoy warm beverages and food. No one will be turned away…

News | September 14, 2016

The library, the new happening place to be

Everywhere, people are deserting the public space. They’re not standing in line at the bank: They’re banking online. They’re not shopping for clothes at the mall: They’re getting clothes mailed to them at home. The internet is enabling people to meet their needs without going out. Librarians have seen this coming for years, and many…

News | September 15, 2020

The pandemic is transforming how Americans use public libraries, parks, and streets — and it’s depriving vulnerable people of space when they need it most

On a Friday in early March, Jennifer Pearson looked around her library in Lewisburg, Tennessee. “The library was full of older people,” Pearson, the library’s director, said. “I thought, if I don’t close this space, they will never stop coming to it, so I have to close it, for their good and for my staff.”…

News | August 30, 2024

The pros and cons of spraying pesticides to keep disease-carrying mosquito populations down

Written by Julia Jacobo for ABC News Researchers are trying to find ways to quell growing mosquito populations that spread disease without putting recovering populations of important pollinators like bees and butterflies at risk. Pesticides are an important management tool for mosquito control as well as for other pests that impact agriculture, Laura Melissa Guzman, assistant…

News | July 15, 2024

The Quinault Nation and the Rising Pacific

Written by Hallie Golden for the Associated Press TAHOLAH, Wash. (AP) — Standing water lies beneath the home Sonny Curley shares with his parents and three children on the Quinault reservation a few steps from the Pacific Ocean in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The back deck is rotting, and black mold speckles the walls inside, leaving…

Research Beyond UW | Univeristy of California - Berkeley

The Suitcase Clinic

The Suitcase Clinic is a humanitarian student organization and volunteer community offering free health and social services to underserved populations since 1989. Structured around the principles of public health, social welfare, community activism and empathy, the Suitcase Clinic currently operates three weekly multi-service drop-in centers in the city Berkeley: the General Clinic, the Women’s Clinic…

News | December 1, 2020

The ununited state of juvenile justice in America

As a child in the United States, justice often depends on where you live, the color of your skin, which police officer arrests you, or which judge, prosecutor or probation officer happens to be involved in your case. Juvenile courts across the country processed nearly 750,000 cases in 2018. About 200,000 of these cases involved…

News | December 13, 2022

The UW Botanic Gardens is working toward creating a diverse and accessible space for all

Taking advantage of the non-rainy days, many people go out for a walk, ride their bikes, or take their dogs out on the twisting paths of the Washington Park Arboretum, part of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens (UWBG). With the implementation of new staff in the past year and a half, and new practices…

News | June 5, 2024

The West’s wetlands are struggling. Some have been overlooked altogether.

Written by Natalia Mesa for High Country News On a warm day in August, Anthony Stewart hiked through a forest on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, making his way through a tangle of ferns and grasses. Wispy, lichen-coated branches hung overhead, providing shade as he set down his backpack and shovel, and he and his team prepared…

News | February 10, 2023

There are 4,000 racist housing covenants in Pierce County. You can find them on a map

Professor of history James Gregory knows the subject well. For roughly two decades, he’s been unearthing the ugly, racist underpinnings of racial disparities in wealth and homeownership seen to this day across Puget Sound. For Gregory, it started in 2005, when he first began to dig into discriminatory housing covenants in Seattle and later King…

News | October 29, 2024

This Atlanta neighborhood hired a case manager to address rising homelessness − and it’s improving health and safety for everyone

Reported by Ishita Chordia, Ph.D. Candidate in Information Science, University of Washington Homelessness has surged across the United States in recent years, rising 19% from 2016 though 2023. The main cause is a severe shortage of affordable housing. Rising homelessness has renewed debates about use of public space and how encampments affect public safety. The…

News | October 12, 2020

This South King County church created a drive-thru food bank in response to the pandemic

The Tukwila Food Pantry has been a lifeline for many South King County residents who have lost their jobs during the pandemic. Like many local food banks, it saw a surge in demand. It went from serving 50 households a day, pre-Covid, to 500. The pantry is at Riverton Park Methodist Church. It started out…

Scholar

Thomas Diehm

News | June 5, 2017

To reach Auburn’s island of homelessness, cross this log

That feeling – that investment in services and subsidized housing leads to more homelessness – is a myth, said Lia Musumeci. She’s a University of Washington student who’s working with Auburn on homelessness issues. The project is part of a larger initiative, Livable City Year, a UW program partnering with Auburn to help it as…

News | March 19, 2024

To report or not report ‘suspicious people’ near campus

Originally reported in The Daily by Shira Sur It took three encounters with a person threatening bypassers near the West Campus dorms for first-year student Hannah Whitemarsh to call 911. Whitemarsh’s call to UWPD, which was made in mid-October of 2023, was transferred to the Seattle Police Department (SPD). After she was asked whether the…

News | February 16, 2024

Transit workers fight drugs on buses and trains

Written by Joseph Gallivan for Axios Oregon Transit companies are pushing to make it a Class A misdemeanor to use drugs on buses and trains in Oregon. TriMet, the Oregon Transit Association, and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 testified yesterday to support amending Senate Bill 1553. The amendment would add the use of illicit drugs…

News | March 1, 2018

Tri-campus survey aims to identify student struggles with housing, food costs

In a region as expensive as the Puget Sound, making ends meet affects college students, too. Rent, utilities and food can run into the hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a month – and for students without the means, it’s a daunting and sometimes compromising challenge. Urban@UW is trying to learn more about the situations…

News | July 9, 2020

Trouble paying medical bills can lead to longer episodes of homelessness, new study shows

Even before the pandemic left COVID-19 patients with staggering hospital bills, many people, especially those who are uninsured, were often overwhelmed with medical bills. And medical debt and housing instability often go hand in hand. In a new University of Washington study of people experiencing homelessness in King County, unpaid medical bills were their primary…

News | October 7, 2020

Turning hotels into emergency shelter as part of COVID-19 response limited spread of coronavirus, improved health and stability

A King County initiative that moved people out of homeless shelters and into hotel rooms earlier this year helped slow the transmission of coronavirus, according to early findings from a study of the intervention. The study, part of Urban@UW’s Homelessness Research Initiative, is co-authored by Rachel Fyall and Gregg Colburn, HRI faculty co-leads. Their research is…

Research Beyond UW | Technical University of Berlin

U-Lab

The "Urban Research and Design Laboratory" was initiated in 2010 at the Technical University of Berlin. Based on the model of dialogue formats it encourages exchanges between teaching, research and practice, responding to demands of interdisciplinary project work as well as case study-based and activity-oriented functioning in the education of future city planners, urban designers…

Research Beyond UW | University of Chicago

UChicago Urban Labs

The University of Chicago's Urban Labs comprises 5 units: Crime Lab, Education Lab, Energy & Environment Lab, Health Lab, and Poverty Lab. Working in partnership with policy makers and practitioners worldwide, Urban Labs help evaluate and implement the most effective urban policies and solutions around the world, bringing improvements to people's lives in real time.…

Research Beyond UW | University College London

UCL Urban Laboratory

The UCL Urban Laboratory, established in 2005, is a university wide initiative that brings together the best urban teaching and research at UCL. Our activities build on the full spectrum of work across the arts and sciences, ranging from civil engineering to film studies, from urban history to the latest developments in architectural design. At…

News | June 30, 2022

Understanding the role of historical residential segregation on pediatric injury and violence

Approximately 265 pediatric deaths occurred as a result of injury or violence in Washington state in 2020. A team of researchers from the University of Washington and hospitals around the state are collaborating on a new Population Health Initiative-funded pilot project, “Residential Segregation and Pediatric Injury and Violence in Seattle, Spokane and Tacoma,” to better…

News | August 5, 2016

Uneven: Mobility, Sidewalks, and Maps (including a map-a-thon!)

Much has been said about sidewalks as theaters of urban life. Productive democratic friction between strangers is one of the hallmarks of good city building, yet this vision of a grandly equitable platform for urban life is not without flaws. Sidewalks may appear to be benign slabs of concrete or brick, but as platforms for…

Funding

United States Conference of Mayors – CommunityWINS Grant Program

The Wells Fargo/U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) CommunityWINSTM (Working/Investing in Neighborhood Stabilization) Grant Program is a collaborative effort between USCM, Wells Fargo Bank, and the Wells Fargo Foundation. The goal of the grant is to: Assist cities with the opportunity to invest, strengthen, and address housing affordability issues. Award $1,000,000 to support local nonprofit partners…

Center & Lab

United:ED

United around education, our alliance of community and education partners, with faculty and students at the University of Washington’s College of Education, supports youth, and especially children of color, by expanding their opportunities to learn. Within a collective commitment to justice for underserved populations, Unite:Ed co-creates projects and strategies that advance equity in the communities…

News | March 13, 2024

University of Washington study finds cities must prioritize youth mental health

Excerpted from KOIN/Channel Six in Portland Written by Michaela Bourgeois Researchers at the University of Washington conducted an international survey that found cities need to focus on youth mental health as younger generations flock to urban areas. Starting in April 2020, researchers worked with the nonprofit citiesRISE to survey over 500 people in 53 countries…

Center & Lab

Urban Commons Lab

Urban Commons Lab in the College of Built Environments at the University of Washington focuses on research and public service that contribute to civic engagement and democratization of contemporary city-making. We approach Urban Commons as a spatial and social practice that embodies reciprocity, sharing, civic engagement, and collective actions. Through research, and community design projects…

Funding

Urban Communication Foundation Grants

Since our launch in 2005, the Urban Communication Foundation has provided awards and grants to dozens of distinguished scholars, researchers, and journalists to recognize and support provocative work that contributes in significant ways to the discourse around urban communication issues. While most of our recipients hail from academia and journalism, we also encourage submissions from…

Degree Program

Urban Design and Planning (Minor, Cert, MUP, dual MLA-MUP, PhD)

Our core mission is to develop a community of inquiry, learning, and practice that helps urban regions to become more livable, just, economically effective, and environmentally sound through a democratic process of urban design and planning.

Research Beyond UW | University of Tokyo

Urban Design Lab

The objective of the Urban Design Lab is to strike a balance between scientific research, teaching, and practical urban design work in the field. We encourage students to develop practical skills as well as a sound theoretical knowledge in order to enable them practicing in all areas of urban design; in the contexts of spatial…

News | May 26, 2023

Urban Scholar Highlight: Dana Nickson

This is the third in a series of interviews from Urban@UW highlighting the research of urban scholars at the University of Washington. Urban@UW spoke to Dana Nickson, Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the University of Washington Seattle. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.   What do you do at…

News | March 28, 2018

Urban Scholar Highlight: Josephine Ensign

Josephine Ensign is a Professor in University of Washington’s School of Nursing and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Affiliate Faculty in UW’s Certificate Program in Public Scholarship, and coordinator of Urban@UW’s Homelessness Research Initiative’s Doorway Project—which is hosting a popup cafe in honor of Earth Day on April 22!…

News | February 18, 2023

Urban Scholar Highlight: Melanie Malone

This is the second in a series of interviews from Urban@UW highlighting the research of urban scholars at the University of Washington. Urban@UW spoke to Melanie Malone, Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Bothell. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.   What do…

News | October 1, 2019

Urban Scholar Highlight: Rachel Berney

Rachel Berney is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Landscape Architecture, an Urban@UW Fellow, and author of Learning from Bogotá: Pedagogical Urbanism and the Reshaping of Public Space. Her primary interests include community sustainable design, public space, and international development in the Americas, as well as…

News | January 31, 2018

Urban Scholar Highlight: Rachel Fyall

Rachel Fyall is an Assistant Professor in the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, and the Faculty Chair of Urban@UW’s Homelessness Research Initiative. We sat down with her last quarter to discuss her work. What you do at the UW and what led you to your current research interests? The main thing I study…

News | August 28, 2017

Urban Scholar Highlight: Scott Allard

Scott W. Allard is a Professor of Public Affairs at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Allard is also on the executive committee of the West Coast Poverty Center and Urban@UW, and an affiliate of the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology. We sat down with him to discuss his work at…

Degree Program

Urban Studies (Cert, BA, MA, MS)

The Urban Studies Program offers a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies with formal options in Global Urbanism and Community Development & Planning. The degree starts with an introduction into the discipline of urban studies with course topics on exploring cities, world development, and urban studies “in practice”. The formal options deliver focused theory and…

News | December 7, 2023

Urban@UW announces 2nd Request for Applications for RAC

Urban@UW is excited to announce the second round of Request for Applications (RFA) for the Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC). The RFA invites teams of community members, researchers and students across the University of Washington who are excited to co-produce actionable, community-centered research and knowledge for persistent urban-focused problems. The deadline for submitting an application…

News | May 24, 2021

Urban@UW Announces Another Round of Funding Through Research Spark Grants

Urban@UW is excited to be able to provide another cycle of funding for small-scale, new or emergent projects in urban systems. Our Urban@UW Research Spark Grants RFP is intended to catalyze new ideas, connections, and next steps for UW faculty and research staff undertaking cross-disciplinary and community-engaged urban scholarship. The application window opens June 14,…

News | April 15, 2022

Urban@UW announces call for 2022 Research Spark Grants

Urban@UW is excited to be able to provide another cycle of funding for small-scale, new or emergent projects in urban systems for academic year 2022-2023. Our Urban@UW Research Spark Grants are intended to *spark* new ideas, connections, and next steps for UW researchers undertaking cross-disciplinary and community-engaged urban scholarship. We have made a few substantive…

News | February 19, 2020

Urban@UW announces Research Spark Grants

UPDATE: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on academic and research activities, Urban@UW has made the difficult decision to postpone our Spark Grants program. In addition to recognizing the varied strains and hardship our community is experiencing, we want to ensure that new collaborations launch in a context that promotes meeting and…

News | April 3, 2024

Urban@UW announces second cycle of Research to Action Collaboratory projects

Urban@UW is excited to announce the project teams selected for the second Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC) cohort. Throughout the next 18 months, Urban@UW will work with these teams to provide seed funds, dedicate time to building team cohesion and collaboration skills, and foster opportunities for peer support, shared resources, and learning. These two project…

News | April 17, 2023

Urban@UW Announces the 2023 Research to Action Collaboratory Inaugural Cohort

Urban@UW is excited to announce the project teams selected for the inaugural cohort of the Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC). Throughout the next 18 months, Urban@UW will work with these teams and provide seed funds, dedicated time to build team cohesion and collaboration skills, and foster opportunities for peer support and shared resources and learning….

News | March 1, 2022

Urban@UW anti-displacement workshop generates connections, ideas, and opportunities for further partnership.

On January 25th and 26th, Urban@UW hosted a virtual workshop that brought together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community partners to elevate key perspectives and facilitate cross-boundary discussions and action around the capacity for people to stay in place and stay in the community in the face of displacement.  The workshop built on discussions initiated by…

News | June 9, 2022

Urban@UW brings together scholars, authors and artists for a roundtable conversation on environmental justice

On May 16th, 2022, Urban@UW’s Urban Environmental Justice (UEJ) Initative hosted a virtual roundtable entitled, “Place and Politics in the Pursuit of Environmental Justice”, examining the ways a changing climate and extreme weather events are giving shape to local places, communities, and politics. With a recognition that today’s urban challenges are embedded with critical inequities…

News | October 20, 2017

Urban@UW compiles Faculty Highlights Report for research, teaching and engagement on homelessness

As part of its recently launched Homelessess Research Initiative, Urban@UW has collaborated with faculty and staff across all three UW campuses to compile a broad-ranging selection of powerful and robust projects addressing homelessness from a research lens. Check out the Faculty Highlights Report to learn more about these efforts and the people behind them.

News | February 11, 2022

Urban@UW hosts Anti-Displacement and Belonging Workshop

On January 25th and 26th, Urban@UW hosted a virtual workshop that brought together researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and community partners to elevate key perspectives and facilitate cross-boundary discussions and action around the capacity for people to stay in place and stay in the community in the face of displacement.  Led by Urban@UW Faculty Director Rachel Berney,…

News | November 26, 2024

Urban@UW is working toward a future where cities are hubs of innovation, inclusivity, & sustainability.

Research-to-Action Teams 2023-2024 In April of 2023 the teams selected for the inaugural cohort of the Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC) were announced. These groups combine the research capabilities of University of Washington scholars with frontline leaders embedded in their communities and government officials who can codify change.  The Research-to-Action Collaboratory provides the teams with…

News | January 11, 2023

Urban@UW launches the Research to Action Collaboratory

Urban@UW launches the Research to Action Collaboratory, with initial funding from the Bullitt Foundation, to help collaborations achieve greater impact The new accelerator program for research teams aims to build collective capacity to increase sustainability and resilience across urban areas and the Pacific Northwest. The Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC), seeded by a catalytic $500,000…

News | April 19, 2021

Urban@UW Leads Report on the Lessons and Levers for University Collaborations with Governmental and Community Partners

In the current era of multi-layered public health, environmental, and civic crises, creating and leveraging cross-sector partnerships to co-create solutions has never been more important. The Bullitt Foundation request for proposals (RFP) provided an unparalleled opportunity to implement and strengthen partnerships, and, equally important, to reflect on the relationships as a key pathway toward sustainability,…

News | September 5, 2024

Urban@UW Presenting at New York Climate Week

Urban@UW Director Rachel Berney and Program Manager Kate Landis will present on the Research-to Action Collaboratory later this month at New York Climate Week, as part of the New York Climate Exchange.  “We are thrilled to be one of the very few university centers invited to participate in New York Climate Week. This well- publicized…

News | October 2, 2024

Urban@UW Presents at Climate Week NYC

Last week Urban@UW’s Director Rachel Berney and Program Manager Kate Landis presented on the Research to Action Collaboratory at Climate Week NYC, as a guest of the New York Climate Exchange. Leaders from all sectors met on Governors Island, just south of Manhattan, to discuss climate adaptations, potential partnerships, and new technology in carbon reduction….

News | August 18, 2020

Urban@UW Research Spark Grants awardees announced

Urban@UW is excited to announce the awardees for our Research Spark Grants program. The two proposals selected address urgent urban challenges in our region, with a strong focus on community engagement and vulnerable populations.   Co-creating an Adaptive Community-Science Network: Supporting Tribal and Grassroots Action through the Puget Creek Watershed Assessment Urban communities in the…

News | September 28, 2021

Urban@UW shares annual letter to kick off 2021-2 school year

As we begin the third academic year to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Urban@UW wishes to acknowledge the ongoing effects of this crisis, which are compounded by systemic forces of inequality and injustice. We feel the grief, the uncertainty, the weariness. And we are buoyed by the perseverance, commitment, and solidarity of moving forward…

News | April 19, 2022

Urban@UW to host roundtable on place and politics in the pursuit of environmental justice

Urban@UW’s Urban Environmental Justice Initiative is hosting a virtual roundtable examining the ways a changing climate and extreme weather events are giving shape to local places, communities, and politics. Moderated by the UEJ Initiative Faculty Lead, Rubén Casas, participants include Kenneth Walker, author of Climate Politics on the Border: Environmental Justice Rhetorics (2022) and Nik Janos, co-editor of Urban Cascadia and the Pursuit of…

News | November 26, 2024

Urban@UW unites research, community insight, and policy to drive innovation for resilient and equitable cities.

Inclusive Data-Driven Innovation for the Future of Cities Urban@UW extends the understanding of cities—from people, buildings, infrastructure, and energy to economics, policy, culture, art, and nature—beyond individual topics to dynamically interdependent systems, so that we can holistically design and steward vibrant and welcoming cities in which future generations will thrive. In partnership with the College…

News | May 18, 2021

Urban@UW Will Welcome New Faculty Director

Following a competitive, university-wide search process, Urban@UW is very pleased to announce that Rachel Berney, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Design and Planning at the Seattle campus, will serve as the initiative’s next Faculty Director. Professor Berney is well positioned to collaboratively lead Urban@UW as a cross-disciplinary research initiative and learning community…

News | November 1, 2024

Urban@UW’s Research to Action Teams Gather for a Fall Workshop

What do Microforests, the historic University of Tacoma campus, refugee resettlement, greenwater recycling, everything bagels and tasty Thai food have in common? They all played a part in October’s Research to Action teams retreat, led by Urban@UW.  Urban@UW brings together multidisciplinary academics and embedded community leaders to solve complex urban challenges through the Research to…

News | November 26, 2024

Urban@UW’s Research to Action Collaboratory provides funding, facilitation, & tools to empower cross-disciplinary teams to solve urban problems

About the RAC The Research to Action Collaboratory serves as a catalyst for research teams, building their transformational collaborative capacity to address today’s most pressing urban challenges. The RAC combines financial support, thought partnership, and skill-building to increase the capacity of scholars, community stakeholders, and the UW for impactful, collaborative research. Today’s most pressing problems—from…

News | December 17, 2019

UW Aging with Pride study helps inform plans for Seattle’s first LGBTQ-affirming, affordable senior housing

The City of Seattle Office of Housing on Dec. 9 announced funds to develop Seattle’s first affordable senior housing development designed to be an affirming environment for LGBTQ seniors and the greater LGBTQ community. The project is led by Capitol Hill Housing, a nonprofit developer, along with GenPRIDE, the first LGBTQ-affirming senior center in Seattle/King…

News | March 2, 2016

UW aids city of Seattle on open data initiative

<allenges.< p=””></allenges.<>   If people find it easier to get data from the city of Seattle going forward, they can in part thank the University of Washington. A team of UW faculty members and doctoral students spent the past six months working with the city on a new open data policy unveiled last week by…

Funding

UW Campus Sustainability Fund

The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) grew out of a vision of the student body to have a more substantive engagement with the University of Washington’s sustainability efforts. After an unprecedented student campaign, the Services and Activities Fee (SAF) Committee allocated $339, 805 to the office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability (ESS) to help implement the…

News | October 27, 2015

UW initiative aims to tackle city, region’s most pressing urban issues

When Thaisa Way put a call out last spring to see if University of Washington faculty members working on urban issues wanted to join forces, she wasn’t sure what the response would be. “There were a lot of people who said, ‘You’re not going to get anyone to show up,‘” said Way, a UW associate…

News | November 13, 2018

UW opens permanent food pantry on campus

Studies suggest that as many as 25 percent of college students nationwide do not get enough food. That’s one of the reasons why the University of Washington on Thursday opened a new, permanent food pantry. Located on the west side of campus in Poplar Hall, the 700-square-foot space provides free, nonperishable groceries and select fresh produce. Anyone…

News | March 23, 2023

UW Receives $1.2M Climate Change Research Grant from EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced nearly $4 million in grant funding for universities—including University of Washington—to research impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities. UW will receive $1,267,559 for a community-based project researching ways to preserve water, soil and sediment along the Duwamish River, famously polluted by decades of industrial contamination. Flanking…

News | March 3, 2022

UW School of Public Health announces ARCH: Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health

Coinciding with this year’s Black History Month theme of “Black Health and Wellness,” today the University of Washington (UW) School of Public Health announces the launch of the Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health (ARCH). Led by inaugural Director Dr. Wendy E. Barrington, the ARCH Center will serve as a community-driven academic hub focused on…

News | August 22, 2016

UW student project taps ORCA cards, unlocks data trove

Students in a UW summer fellowship program called Data Science for Social Good work to coax valuable information from overlooked data, and one potential upshot might be improved bus service. If you’re a regular bus rider, you might think that the area’s transit agencies use the information from your ORCA card to learn which buses…

News | May 13, 2019

UW students face food, housing insecurity, survey shows

Preliminary data from a survey of food and housing insecurity at the University of Washington’s three campuses shows that an estimated 190 students may lack a stable place to live, and about one-quarter of students have worried recently about having enough to eat. Results of the online survey, conducted by UW faculty in 2018, are…

News | December 16, 2022

UW welcomes Tent City 3 for winter quarter

The University of Washington will welcome back Tent City 3 — an organized tent-city community — to its Seattle campus for 90 days during winter quarter 2023. Move-in is scheduled to begin Dec. 17, 2022. The UW previously hosted Tent City 3 in winter 2017 and winter 2021 in parking lot W35, situated between John M….

News | May 26, 2016

UW-led study pinpoints how air pollution harms your heart

Dr. Joel Kaufman of the University of Washington led a 10-year study of 6,000 people in six cities that found air pollution accelerates deposits of calcium in heart arteries, a known cause of heart attack and stroke. Scientists have known for years that long-term exposure to air pollution raises the risk of heart disease, but…

News | May 2, 2019

UW, WSU community partnership: Improving the health of homeless youth and their pets

Rivals in the sports arena, the state’s two largest public universities have teamed up off the field to improve the health of young adults experiencing homelessness – and their pets. The University of Washington and Washington State University are working with New Horizons Ministries and Neighborcare Health to provide health care and veterinary care to…

News | March 15, 2024

UW’s College of Built Environments Professor Faces an Electrifying Challenge

Reported by Jen Moss for the University of Washington’ College of Built Environments King County Metro (Metro), which serves a daily average of over 250,000 riders across more than 203 square miles of the county, has an emissions challenge. Their zero-carbon emissions target, set by the King County Council, must be met by 2035. This…

News | May 11, 2022

UW’s Native Garden fostering community, sustainability among students

The UW Native Garden is a place for indigenous students to share their culture and community to learn about combining tradition with modern techniques. A garden in the corner of the UW Farm at the Center for Urban Horticulture is offering a space for growth and learning, with volunteers invited to be part of the…

News | November 29, 2017

UW’s Doorway Project kicks off services for homeless youth

The University District community includes as much as one-third of King County’s homeless youth over any given year. It’s a neighborhood where a food bank and youth shelter are available, and where young people on the streets can blend in.   Now the University of Washington, in a partnership among Urban@UW, faculty, students and community…

News | April 30, 2020

Virginia takes a big step against criminalizing poverty

Virginia will no longer suspend driver’s licenses because people owe court debt, thanks to legislation that was signed into law last week. The state has been suspending hundreds of thousands of licenses each year, disproportionately those of African Americans and lower-income Virginians. “Payment systems are not sustainable because people are robbing from rent and from putting food…

News | October 4, 2022

WA Faces an Epidemic of Inaccessible Sidewalks

Across Washington lies a glut of impassable sidewalks for people with disabilities. At thousands of intersections, sidewalks end without a ramp to the street. Where there are ramps, a Seattle Times review of more than 30 cities’ and counties’ assessments of their roads and sidewalks found no jurisdiction where even 50% comply with the Americans with…

News | October 7, 2024

WA Gen Z voters excited, but turnout still a toss-up

Reported by Paris Jackson for Cascade/PBS There’s a surge in interest among young voters, those considered Generation Z, this election cycle. They’re outspoken, savvy and civically engaged. Gen Z’ers are those born between 1997 and 2012, according to Pew Research. They’re touted as the generation that grew up with the internet as an integral part…

News | November 9, 2021

WA’s frontline communities face the brunt of climate change

Urban@UW colleague Rubén Casas shares his perspective on challenges and opportunities for mobilizing vulnerable communities in the face of climate change in this op-ed written for Crosscut. — In my last column, I called for a centralized, coordinated solutions center to help us meet the challenges of climate change — a kind of “help desk” for…

News | May 20, 2024

Washington overdose deaths continued to rise in 2023 while national trends declined, but there’s hope

Reported by Kate Walters for KUOW/NPR Overdose deaths in Washington state continued to rise throughout 2023, bucking the national trend. According to preliminary data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week, reported overdose deaths across the U.S. fell by roughly 5% in 2023, compared to 2022. In contrast, Washington state saw…

News | January 27, 2021

Washington tribes join lawsuit to stop sale of National Archives in Seattle

Concerned it would threaten their cultural preservation, history and treaty rights, 40 tribes in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska joined a Jan. 4 lawsuit with Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson to stop the federal government from selling the National Archives facility in Seattle and shipping its millions of boxes of records to California and Missouri….

News | April 9, 2020

Watch videos of UW students’ ideas for public toilets, road safety and job matches in India

A UW study abroad program empowers students from all disciplines to apply their skills to real-life problems — such as food insecurity, water scarcity, and a lack of adequate housing and education. At the end of the program the students create videos to share their projects. Participants in the Grand Challenges Impact Lab, directed by UW…

News | December 18, 2015

Weekly Recap 12/12-12/18

A few of the highlights in Urban news for the past week: 195 nations reached a landmark accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/13/world/europe/climate-change-accord-paris.html UW announces new Master of Science in Data Science…

Funding

Wellcome Trust

We provide more than £700 million a year to support bright minds in science, the humanities and the social sciences, as well as education, public engagement and the application of research to medicine. We offer a wide variety of funding schemes to support individual researchers, teams, resources, seed ideas and places. We also fund major…

Center & Lab

West Coast Poverty Center

The West Coast Poverty Center works to bridge the gaps between antipoverty research, practice, and policy by connecting scholars, policymakers and practitioners; facilitating important social policy research; magnifying the reach of new knowledge; and fostering the next generation of antipoverty scholars. A collaborative venture of the UW School of Social Work, the Daniel J. Evans…

Research Beyond UW | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

West Philadelphia Landscape Project

The West Philadelphia Landscape Project has worked in the Mill Creek Watershed since 1987, with a focus on the Mill Creek neighborhood. Throughout our more than 25-year history, we have worked with the people of Mill Creek to address the opportunities and challenges posed by the urban landscape. For more than twenty-five years, the West…

Map | New York

What a Hundred Million Calls to 311 Reveal About New York

There was something fitting in this unlikely connection, since 311 is designed to re-create some of the human touch of small-town life in the context of a vast metropolis. Eighty percent of calls connect to a live rep within half a minute, after a brief recorded message summing up the day’s parking regulations (a major…

News | May 7, 2021

What can our cities do for us? Columnist Rubén Casas has ideas

Originally written by Rubén Casas, Assistant Professor of rhetoric and composition at the University of Washington Tacoma, for Crosscut.  Of the many insightful things Italo Calvino wrote about a city, the one that sticks with me the most is this one: “You take delight not in a city’s seven or seventy wonders, but in the answer…

News | January 23, 2024

What Happened to Seattle’s Relationship with Boeing?

The aftermath of the Alaska blowout reveals that the connection is slowly unraveling. From Seattle Met Written by Benjamin Cassidy IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH of the fuselage blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month, Margaret O’Mara noticed something that would’ve once been unthinkable in Seattle. The University of Washington history professor observed that locals…

News | December 24, 2020

What is a Community Land Trust? And could one help with Tacoma’s homelessness crisis?

When Tacoma Housing Now took over vacant Gault Middle School in November to shelter unhoused people, the action came with a list of demands. The most prominent of them insisted on making Gault, which has sat vacant for a decade, part of a Community Land Trust, also called a CLT. In Tacoma, CLTs aren’t a new idea….

News | July 6, 2023

Why a Pierce County Water District is Spending Millions to Clean Up Its Water

Lakewood is one of many water systems going to extraordinary lengths to address the threat [of PFAS] that health officials are still trying to understand. The synthetic compound Polyfluoroalkyl, commonly referred to as PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” has been used in common products for decades. Scientists are now linking the chemicals to a growing list…

News | July 7, 2020

Why host platforms? Extracts from an interview with Professor Thaisa Way

In early March 2020, Andrea Kahn (Synthesis Lab Director for SLU Urban Futures and former SLU Landscape Facilitator) met Thaisa Way, Facilitator for Urban@UW, to discuss the origins, actors, actions and impacts of the platform.   Like SLU Landscape, Urban@UW is a network of researchers and practitioners engaging in different collaborative projects and initiatives across multiple…

News | June 25, 2024

Why social media rarely leads to constructive political action

Written by Stefan Milne for UW News. While social media platforms are rife with problems — from harassment to misinformation — many argue that the platforms also nurture political movements, such as the Arab Spring and #MeToo. But in her new book “Log Off: Why Posting and Politics (Almost) Never Mix,” Katherine Cross, a University…

News | June 21, 2024

Why the First Heat Wave of the Summer Can Be the Most Dangerous

Written by Scott Dance for the Washington Post. In an average June, just a few days reach 90 degrees in Detroit. But by the time the year’s first blast of summer breaks in the Motor City this weekend, nearly a week of intense heat will have passed. And some of the most dangerous heat waves…

News | August 2, 2024

Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked With Higher Dementia Risk

Reported by Dennis Thompson for HealthDay THURSDAY, Aug. 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) — The wildfires thats are increasing with climate change could harm the future brain health of humanity, a new study suggests. Wildfire smoke appears to increase people’s risk of a dementia diagnosis even more than other types of air pollution, researchers reported this…

News | July 26, 2024

With $50M infusion, UW to launch security center to fight research theft

Reported by Emerson Drewes for the Seattle Times The University of Washington will receive a $50 million investment over five years from the United States National Science Foundation to establish a national center for research security. Universities, including those in Washington, have been victims of cyberattacks and hacks in attempts to access, download, alter or…

News | November 25, 2019

With mic and spade, this researcher-turned-podcaster is helping restore Seattle’s Indigenous landscape

When Jessica Hernandez arrived in Seattle five years ago to begin her master’s degree program at the University of Washington, everything suddenly felt out of place. She was born to Indigenous parents who had immigrated from Central American and Oaxaca, Mexico, and grew up in Los Angeles, going to schools that taught classes in Spanish…

News | February 1, 2017

Working with community to tackle homelessness

Seattle’s rapid rise in homelessness, coinciding with increasing costs in housing and living, have brought significant challenges to economically vulnerable populations in the Puget Sound. In spite of a sense of urgency regionally and in many areas of the country, sufficient resources, effective systemic fixes and broad support still have not come together to end…

Events

Working with Vulnerable Populations for Greater Community Resilience

News | April 28, 2023

Working with Vulnerable Populations for Greater Community Resilience

Urban@UW is excited to invite you to attend Working with Vulnerable Populations for Greater Community Resilience, a workshop organized by Urban@UW, the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Put on as part of the NSF-funded MOHERE: Mobility, Health, and Resilience: Building Capacities and Expanding Impact, this workshop will focus…

Scholar

Yona Sipos

News | June 20, 2018

You asked about the crisis of homelessness in Seattle. Here are some answers

There’s a lot of money in Seattle these days. Companies like Amazon and Starbucks are based here, and construction has been booming. But our city has one of the biggest homelessness problems in the country. Our listeners are wondering about that disconnect. And they’ve been asking us questions about the issue. To try to answer…

News | September 7, 2023

You’re Doing It Wrong: Recycling and Other Myths about Tackling Climate Change

A slim majority of Americans think their individual actions can reduce the effects of climate change, according to a Washington Post-University of Maryland poll. But do they know which actions are the most effective? Not quite. The poll finds most people believe recycling has a lot or some impact on climate change. About three-quarters say…