SGCI Legacy Projects | Research on Resilient Cities, Racism, and Equity

The Sustainable Global Cities Initiative (2018 - 2022) was the precursor to what is now Research on Resilient Cities, Racism, and Equity.

Headquartered at UConn Hartford, the Sustainable Global Cities Initiative (SGCI) sought to support an extensive, interdisciplinary network of Faculty Affiliates and supporters whose research and projects focus on urban-related issues, broadly defined. Given the inherently diverse and interdisciplinary nature of city-related research, SGCI aimed to strengthen partnerships within the university community across disciplines, schools, and college that might otherwise have limited interaction, and to increase the visibility and impact of the excellent work already being done at UConn through targeted messaging strategies.

Under the directorship of Robert H. Wilson, the SGCI built significant, university-wide momentum that laid the groundwork for RRCRE as a result of years of outreach within UConn's scholarly community. In addition to implementing a pilot Faculty Affiliate program of UConn faculty, staff, and researchers whose work involved the study of cities, it also produced an impressive amount of events, partnerships, and documents during its brief tenure, which was defined in no small part by pandemic-era challenges. Below is a partial list of some of the legacy projects of the SGCI.

SGCI Legacy Events and Co-Sponsorships

Building Sustainable Cities: the Olmsted Legacy in Connecticut conference (2022)
Diasporas and Cities working group (2020)
SGCI Faculty Research Grant Competition (2021)

SGCI Legacy Projects and Publications

Cities and COVID (2021): A a curated resource guide to the extensive and growing research from universities, research centers, governmental and multilateral agencies, and trade organizations on the effect of the pandemic on cities and on strategies cities are contemplating for developing resilience to pandemics.
UConn Scholarship and the City (2018 - 2020)
UConn Engagement in the City (2018 - 2020)
An Inventory of Research Capacity on Cities at UConn (2020): In 2019 the SGCI initiated a university-wide inventory on research capacity. This annotated working paper categorizes UConn’s research capacity into the Six Core Themes of Urban Research used by the SGCI, and includes in-depth analysis about UConn’s scholarly strengths, relevant university centers and initiatives, and connections to national trends in urban research.
The Public University and Cities: The Case of the University of Connecticut (2019): Written by Robert H. Wilson and Rachel Smith Hale, this annotated paper explores the historical trends of urban-related research efforts and outreach conducted by American public universities from the late 19th century through the present day, including an examination of the University of Connecticut’s own history regarding these efforts.