December 12, 2024, Cambridge, Massachusetts—The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative supports academic research and shares action insights with current and future city leaders. It also produces new curricular materials for students and educators of urban policy and management.

“Our work is guided by the challenges and opportunities that city leaders face every day,” said Jorrit de Jong, Director of the Bloomberg Center for Cities and Faculty Co-Chair of the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative.

“We’re advancing the theory and practice of urban problem-solving through rigorous research, purpose-built curricula, and training of city leaders.”

• What strategies enable cities to build trust and engagement with residents?
• How should city leaders approach cross-agency collaboration?
• How can cities leverage data and evidence to solve problems more effectively?

Faculty from across Harvard collaborate on research projects that seek to answer these questions. Throughout the year, the Initiative’s research and curriculum team works with them to disseminate the findings, create new resources and help leaders adopt new, evidence-based approaches to serve residents.

Access and share with your team or your students to advance leadership and innovation:

 

RESEARCH

What Big Data Can Tell You about Access to Public Spaces

Just because parks are open to everyone doesn’t mean that residents can use them equally. But how do you determine who faces hidden barriers? Explore how city leaders can leverage big data to better understand and address inequities in public spaces. Read >>

 

Improving Housing and Health

How can cities leverage data, collaboration, and innovation to improve the health and safety of homes and neighborhoods? Explore new research on novel practices at the intersection of community development, code enforcement, and social services. Read >>

 

Eight Types of Power City Leaders Can Use When Negotiating

Research from the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative shows how a mix of formal and informal sources of power can help city leaders negotiate maximum value for residents. Read >> 

 

Building the Capabilities Your Organization Needs

Explore how investing in collaborative, analytical, and reflective capabilities can help governments solve problems more effectively. Read >>

 

Engaging Employees in Strategic Work

Who “strategizes” in your organization? In a networked world, employees at every level of the organization are needed to navigate complex issues and act strategically. Find out what leadership and human resources might do to engage and support employees. Read >>

 

Cross-Boundary Collaborations in Cities

When and how do you start addressing a complex social issue? Bloomberg Harvard-supported research examines what successful cross-boundary teams do early on. Read >>

 

Inter-City Collaboration

Inter-city collaborations are on the rise, but what value do they produce for cities? This study explores how city leaders can make informed decisions about participation. Read >>

 

Collaborative Innovation in Practice

What happens when city leaders collaborate with residents and partners in and out of city hall to solve complex problems? Find answers in this study which features a long-running community cleanup program in Buffalo, New York. Read >>

 

Designing an Environment for Creating New Policy Solutions

Understand the conditions under which multi-agency teams are more likely to succeed in developing creative solutions for difficult-to-solve challenges. Read >>

 

Organizing People Through Storytelling

Learn how leaders can leverage the power of story using the public narrative framework—a way to assess, articulate, and communicate shared values—and motivate people to take action. Read >>

 

RESOURCES

City Leader Guide on Civic Engagement

This guide offers analytic tools, insights from theory and practice, and step-by-step process support for city leaders and staff seeking to engage residents in public problem-solving. Read >>

 

Women City Leaders Case Set

Learn from 13 cases on the key leadership topics of collaboration, innovation, and strategic leadership and management featuring diverse protagonists – including women, people of color, and leaders from the global south. Read >>

 

Early-Stage Collaboration Case Set

How do you find a common starting point when working together with public, for-profit, and civic organizations? This set of teaching cases and facilitator guides explores the early stages of collaboration and can help leaders understand how to gain momentum. Read >>

 

Teaching Case: Mayor Curtatone’s Culture of Curiosity

Learn how Somerville, Massachusetts became a data-informed city and what you can do in your organization to improve performance. Read >>

 

Teaching Case: Investing in Employee Well-Being at the Denver Sheriff Department

Think through how to diagnose a problem before adopting a solution, how to pilot a new practice and test its effectiveness, and how to manage risk and build support for experimentation and change. Read >>

 

City Leader Guide: Building Fiscal Resilience in Your City

Diagnose fiscal challenges and make informed policy and budgetary decisions with this interactive guide and companion website. Explore >>

 

About the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative

The Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative–a program of the Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University–is a collaboration between Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Business School, and Bloomberg Philanthropies to equip mayors and senior city officials to tackle complex challenges in their cities and improve the quality of life of their residents. Launched in 2017, the Initiative has worked with 584 mayors and 2500+ senior city officials in 576 cities worldwide. The Initiative has also advanced research and developed new curriculum and teaching tools to help city leaders solve real-world problems. For more information, please visit the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative and visit us on LinkedIn and X.