About Us

We find solutions to the problems facing central cities and their metropolitan regions

How We Began

Students and researchers working on public works while seated in the main office fo the Center for Urban Studies located in Hayes 330.

Founded in 1987 by Dr.  Henry Louis Taylor, Jr., the UB Center for Urban Studies is a research, neighborhood planning, and community development institute that focuses on the transformation of underdeveloped neighborhoods into healthy, thriving, and joyful communities. We pursue this through resident-driven neighborhood planning, development, and transformation, as well as by changing the metropolitan city-building process.

In its early years, the UB Center reported to the Vice President for Public Service and Urban Affairs at the University at Buffalo. During this time, it promoted public service at the University and led efforts to revitalize the University Heights neighborhood surrounding the UB South Campus. In 1998, the UB Center moved to the UB School of Architecture and Planning and began developing a model to transform marginalized, underdeveloped neighborhoods into healthy, thriving, and joyful communities. This place-based redevelopment strategy led the UB Center to focus on resident-driven neighborhood planning and development as the primary force behind the transformation of underdeveloped areas..

  • Our Mission
    3/27/25
    The UB Center seeks to understand the world so that it can change it. The UB Center engages in Research and projects that deepen knowledge and understanding of the root causes of neighborhood underdevelopment, develop and test innovative solutions to urban problems, and develop strategies to transform underdeveloped neighborhoods into healthy, thriving, and joyful places. The aim is to build the Just Metropolis, a place anchored by racial, social, and economic justice.
  • Our Team
    3/27/25
  • Our Partners
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  • Join Our Team
    3/27/25
    At the UB Center for Urban Studies, we believe that theory and practice are interconnected forces in the production of knowledge for social change. This process of knowledge production requires the blending of “expert” and “street” knowledge, enabling us to reimagine the metropolitan city-building process and transform underdeveloped, marginalized neighborhoods into healthy, thriving, and joyful communities.