Independent urban futures research institute
We study the systems that shape everyday urban life—and publish practical, transparent research for the people changing them.
A current inquiry into how heat exposure changes after sunset—and why conventional daytime measures miss the unequal burden.
Working paper · CH–WP–01
This study combines street-level temperature readings, building form, transit access, and resident diaries to examine where heat persists after the sun sets—and which public responses remain available after hours.
Read the research summary →
Four connected programs examine the physical, social, and civic systems that determine how urban change is felt.
01
Heat, water, resilience infrastructure, and the unequal geography of risk.
Current inquiry02
Affordability, vacancy, tenure, development patterns, and the right to remain.
Related papers03
Street design, access, care journeys, and the daily experience of moving.
Public forums04
Public data, automated decisions, digital infrastructure, and accountable tools.
Our methodsResearch notes, field papers, and methods briefs written for close reading and practical use.
Research note
A review of after-hours heat response through libraries, transit hubs, neighborhood organizations, and other everyday civic spaces.
Field paper
What parcel records miss about informal stewardship, temporary use, and neighborhood value on land classified as vacant.
Methods brief
A field protocol for documenting how automated enforcement changes movement, discretion, and accountability in shared urban space.
A small interdisciplinary team working across climate, housing, mobility, technology, and public participation.
Research director · Urban climate
Studies how infrastructure, service hours, and housing shape heat exposure.
Research fellow · Mobility systems
Examines access, care journeys, and the public life of streets.
Research lead · Housing and land
Works on land use, tenure, vacancy, and community-led development.
Research fellow · Public technology
Focuses on civic data, automated systems, and institutional accountability.
Public conversations that connect emerging evidence with the choices facing cities now.
A research briefing on evening exposure, public service hours, and neighborhood-scale response.
A methods workshop on administrative records, field observation, and locally held knowledge.
A forum on procurement, oversight, and public recourse when street-level decisions are automated.
Method and transparency
Every project is designed to make its evidence, analytical choices, and limits legible. We publish enough context for readers to understand what a finding can—and cannot—support.
Datasets, interviews, observations, and exclusions are documented by source and date.
Definitions, transformations, assumptions, and revisions travel with each output.
Uncertainty and missing evidence are presented with findings, not hidden in an appendix.
Corrections and substantive changes are recorded so prior interpretations remain understandable.