Welcome
The mission of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) is to engage in and foster education and research for the advancement of physically and socially sustainable cities. CSUD concentrates on understanding, articulating and disseminating information about the unique and important challenges and opportunities of urban development in low- and middle-income countries, as well as in its home community of Metropolitan New York.
To fulfill its mission, CSUD engages in interdisciplinary analyses of the linkages between urban transport and land use to economic development, demographic shifts, population health and climate change. It collaborates with faculty, students and researchers across Columbia University, but its work stretches far beyond the university setting. Affiliates work on the ground with CSUD, both locally and internationally, with a variety of stakeholders including local universities, officials and community-based organizations to develop policies and plans to meet their goals for sustainable urban-based social and economic development.
Founded in 2004, CSUD is one of seven Centers of Excellence established by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations. It is also supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. CSUD’s international pilot project site is located on the border of the Nairobi metropolitan area. Read more about this project.