Climate-Induced Displacement, Resettlement, Adaptation, and Resilience for Cities (CIDRARC)
The Initiative on Cities and the University of Toronto’s School of Cities co-leads the Global Research Network on Climate-Induced Displacement, Resettlement, Adaptation, and Resilience for Cities (CIDRARC), supported by two grants from Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Partners include urban research centers in Barcelona, Melbourne, and Karachi; five additional universities; two global NGOs (C40 Cities and the Global Covenant of Mayors); and other collaborators, including city governments and refugee rights lawyers.
In 2024, the network produced eight case studies, including “Climate Risks and Climate Displacement in Boston” by IOC’s Danielle Mulligan, Stacy Fox, and Loretta Lees, as well as cases from Barcelona, Toronto, Karachi, and Cape Town. Findings reveal cities are often unprepared for climate-induced displacement across adaptation, emergency response, and recovery, underscoring the need for locally grounded research. We shared results at a December 2024 workshop held at Boston University featuring MIT’s Lawrence Vale and global NGO partners, and at Columbia University’s MR2025: Mobility, Adaptation, and Wellbeing in a Changing Climate conference. We are collaborating with local partners to provide training and tools in four key areas: housing, health, livelihoods, and rights.
Short-term Rental Regulation in Boston
In 2025, the IOC launched a new research project in collaboration with BU’s School of Hospitality Administration on the impact of short-term rentals (STRs) on the City of Boston. The research team includes experts on short-term rentals, Airbnbs, and their impact on cities and urban policy: Makarand Mody, Associate Professor and Director of Research at the School of Hospitality Administration; Kristof Gyodi, Visiting Researcher and Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw; IOC Director Loretta Lees; and Graduate Research Assistant Andrew Ward (GRS ‘28).
The team is investigating the impact of Boston’s STR regulations — specifically AirBnB — through quantitative analysis of market data (with Philadelphia, Washington DC, San Diego, and Atlanta as controls), spatial mapping of rental hotspots, and qualitative interviews with stakeholders such as residents, hosts, and policymakers. This work is connected with the IOC’s role in the European Union-funded Housing-Wealth-Nexus project, which brings together researchers and grassroots organizations across Europe, South America, and North America to examine how housing markets drive inequality and to develop bottom-up solutions to the international housing crisis.
East Boston: Dante Alighieri Montessori School, a Hidden Gem for Whom?
Building on research previously conducted by IOC Associate Director Danielle Mulligan and lifelong East Boston resident and Undergraduate Research Assistant Kimberly Landaverde Guillen (CAS ‘25), the IOC launched a new exploratory study focused on the relationship between the Dante Alighieri Montessori School and the rapidly gentrifying East Boston neighborhood. The Alighieri is an elementary school that was closed in 2011 due to district budget cuts and then reopened in 2014 as the district’s only public Montessori school. Since reopening, the demographics
of students have shifted: the number of Hispanic students is now declining, while the number of white students is increasing.
With the generous support of the Boston University Sociology Department and the Center for Innovation in Social Science, the study aims to examine the relationship between changes in the school and those in the neighborhood. The team, comprised of Mulligan, Landaverde Guillen, IOC Director Loretta Lees, and Graduate Research Assistant Natalie Smith (GRS ‘30), is currently interviewing Alighieri’s current and former teachers, parents, school leaders, and former students.