Letter from the Director
Elliott Sclar, Director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development
Welcome to the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD). As the founding director I am excited about the important work that we do and the ways in which we have grown and expanded since our launch in 2005. The mission of our center is to help harness the opportunities for social development and environmental sustainability that cities can offer. In light of this, we seek to understand and address the problems that rapid, unplanned urbanization is bringing to the expanding cities of the world’s low- and middle-income countries. Because environmental sustainability is so central to our focus, we also address the challenges to health and well-being that climate change is imposing on urban areas around the world. We accomplish our mission by fostering and participating in education and research related to the creation of physically and socially sustainable cities.
CSUD’s work is centered on the question of how to bring community participation into planning processes and how this approach might become institutionalized. In the final analysis, all talk of “good governance” boils down to mechanisms through which information is exchanged between communities, NGOs and governing authorities and the ways in which it is acted upon. Therefore, central to our work are our efforts to facilitate communication and partnership-building among and between community groups and local institutions of research and education, as well as local governments.
CSUD is one of seven centers of excellence (CoEs) throughout the world that the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF) have established to date as part of their Future Urban Transport initiative (for more information about VREF and the other COEs, see their website at http://www.vref.se/). Our work on urban social and environmental sustainability has also been supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.
You can read more about our major projects and recent work on this website. Highlights include our pilot project work based in the Nairobi metropolitan region; the convening of the Global Urban Summit (a joint effort between CSUD and the Rockefeller Foundation), which was held in July of 2007 at the Rockefeller Foundation’s study and conference center in Bellagio, Italy, to bring together leaders from the private and public sectors and NGOs to explore opportunities to foster healthy and sustainable cities; and our recent work in the New York Metropolitan Area, including a joint study of the potential impacts of congestion pricing on Northern Manhattan communities.
Recent News, Events & Media
Elliott Sclar delivers keynote address at 8th International Conference on Urban Health in Nairobi, Kenya
Professor Elliott Sclar, Director of CSUD, gave a keynote address at the 8th International Conference on Urban Health (ICUH) in Nairobi, Kenya on October 22, 2009. Sclar’s talk called for the reconnection of the fields of health and urban planning, as this will be a key to addressing the pressing issue of improving population health in a rapidly urbanizing world. He linked these ideas to CSUD’s ongoing project work on urban planning and sustainable transportation in Nairobi, Kenya.
Elliott Sclar participates in UN-HABITAT’s 6th HS-Net Advisory Board meeting held in Mombassa, Kenya
Elliott Sclar, Director of CSUD, participated in UN-HABITAT’s 6th HS-Net Advisory Board meeting held October 19-21, 2009 in Mombassa, Kenya. The series of meetings frame the content and structure of the two upcoming issues of the Global Report on Human Settlements (2011-Cities and Climate Change and 2013-Sustainable Urban Transport). Previous issues have included Planning Sustainable Cities (2009), Enhancing Urban Safety and Security (2007), Financing Urban Shelter (2005) and The Challenge of Slums (2003).
Read more about the Global Report on Human Settlements
CSUD sponsored special guest lecture by Enrique Peñalosa at the University of Nairobi
On October 16th, 2009 the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, and the New York based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy sponsored a public lecture at the University of Nairobi featuring visionary politician and urban strategist, Mr. Enrique Peñalosa. Mr. Peñalosa, the former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, gave a talk entitled “What is a Good City: Public Space, Transport and Quality of Life” which focused on transforming cities into world-class models of urban happiness and the integral role of sustainable transportation therein.
Elliott Sclar presents paper “The Political-Economics of Private Infrastructure Finance: The New Sub Prime” at the 50th Anniversary ACSP Conference
Public-private partnerships are becoming the standard response to infrastructure needs. The approach is proving to be problematic because either intentionally or unintentionally, it always privileges returns to the private partner over the public partner's need for public services. Elliott Sclar, Professor of Urban Planning and Director of CSUD presented his latest paper “The Political-Economics of Private Infrastructure Finance: The New Sub Prime” at the 50th Anniversary Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning in October 2009.
CSUD co-hosts Transport Modeling Workshops in Nairobi, Kenya
On August 18 and 19, CSUD, in partnership with the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), hosted a series of Transport Modeling Workshops in Nairobi, Kenya. The Transport Modeling Workshops were designed to share and leverage the findings and recommendations regarding the Nairobi Metropolitan Region’s transport outlook that have been recently formulated by the UC Berkeley Center for Future Urban Transport, transport economist Deborah Salon of UC Davis, and Sarah Williams, Director of Columbia University’s Spatial Information Design Lab. The Workshops included sessions for Kenyan policy makers and technical staff, a training session for young professionals and students, and an information sharing and political action session for local community groups organized in partnership with the Kenya Alliance of Resident Associations (KARA).
CSUD launches collaborative traffic emission study in Nairobi, Kenya
The Center for Sustainable Urban Development is proud to announce the July 2009 commencement of an exciting traffic emission study entitled “Nairobi Area Traffic Contribution to Air Pollution" (NATCAP). This is a collaborative effort between CSUD; Professor Patrick Kinney, Mailman School of Health at Columbia University; Professor Anthony Gachanja, Department of Chemistry, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Kenya; Dr. Michael J. Gatari Gichuru, Institute of Nuclear Science & Technology (INST) at the University of Nairobi, Kenya; and Dr. Peter Ndiba, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Architecture and Engineering at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. This study will provide preliminary analysis of the influence of vehicle traffic emissions on Nairobi air quality. It will also provide a major contribution to the understanding of air pollution in high altitude cities in developing countries. Students, current and future, will have an opportunity to participate in joint environmental and public health research and appreciate use of aerosol samplers and associated field work challenges.
Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) and Columbia University's Cool City Project Release Study:
Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies Can Improve New York City's Environment
On October 15, 2008, with partial support from CSUD, Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx) and Columbia University's Cool City Project released the study "Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategies Can Improve New York City's Environment." Written in partnership with the Cool City Project, the SSBx study found that widespread use of vegetated and highly reflective surfaces in New York City's built environment could improve the City's environment, public health and economy.
Read the SSBx press release
Read the complete paper
CSUD Premieres Documentary Film:
Innovations for an Urban World: A Global Urban Summit
In May, 2008, the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) premiered the documentary film "Innovations for an Urban World: A Global Urban Summit." The half-hour film is based on a series of four week-long meetings held at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in July, 2007, which brought together a variety of key stakeholders to highlight opportunities to address the challenges faced by the world's fastest growing population group – the urban poor.