Urbanization is rapidly reshaping the world, bringing with it complex, intertwined challenges. The urgent question facing city leaders, researchers, and urban policymakers is: How do we ensure that development translates into opportunity, prosperity, and improved quality of life?

The 10th Urbanization and Development Conference, co-organized by the Johns Hopkins School of Government and Policy, the World Bank, the International Growth Centre, and George Washington University, provided a forum for collaboration between academia and policy. Over two days in Washington, D.C., urban economists, city practitioners, and policymakers convened to explore the intersection of urbanization and economic development, with sessions covering topics ranging from job creation and infrastructure investment to housing, governance, and inequality in cities.

“Having the Johns Hopkins School of Government and Policy at the center of the conversation on urban-related research—not just in D.C., but around the world—is very important if we want evidence to be shaped by real policy questions and feed into actual policy decisions in practical ways,” said Nathaniel Baum-Snow, Professor of Economic Analysis and Policy, University of Toronto, and a founding faculty member of the Johns Hopkins School of Government and Policy. “We intend to be one of the leading places in the world for cities-related research, and events like this, featuring world-class researchers presenting their work, are part of building that.”

“Having the Johns Hopkins University School of Government and Policy at the center of the conversation on urban-related research—not just in D.C., but around the world—is very important if we want evidence to be shaped by real policy questions and feed into actual policy decisions in practical ways. We intend to be one of the leading places in the world for cities-related research, and events like this, featuring world-class researchers presenting their work, are part of building that.”

Professor Nathaniel Baum-Snow

Reflected in the event’s structure—Day 1 at the World Bank focused on policy, while Day 2 at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center focused on research—was the charge for real-world policy questions to inform lines of academic inquiry, and for research to feed back into impactful policymaking. 

From Quito, Ecuador, where infrastructure investments beg critical cost-benefit analyses of subway expansion, to Baltimore, Maryland, where the city is tackling more than 12,000 vacant properties, participants examined urgent, complex issues: What does city-level data reveal about the return on investment for infrastructure? What novel approaches are practitioners using to advance innovation in resource-constrained environments? How can cities identify capacity bottlenecks and prioritize high-impact improvements?

To seek answers to these types of challenges, and through convenings such as the 10th Urbanization and Development Conference, the Johns Hopkins School of Government and Policy is positioned as a key link to help urban development researchers and city practitioners work in partnership—not just in parallel.