Welcome

The mission of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD) is the creation of physically and socially sustainable cities. CSUD’s initial project, funded by the Volvo Research and Education Foundations (VREF), is to establish ongoing research and educational exchanges in cities in developing countries focused on land use and transport planning with the goal of designing plans and policies for sustainable growth.

CSUD, founded in 2004, is one of three Centers of Excellence established by VREF to conduct interdisciplinary research on coping with the increasing complexities of urban transportation.

Over the next four years, CSUD will send students and faculty to cities in developing countries to work with local officials, universities and community-based organizations to develop environmentally and socially sustainable strategies for urban development, land use and transportation that target the neediest residents of urban centers and to research the impacts of implementing such strategies. CSUD has begun work on its pilot project in Ruiru, located on the border of the metropolitan area of Nairobi, Kenya. more about this project...

Rockefeller Foundation and CSUD Convene Global Urban Summit

This year marks the first time in history that half of the world's population lives in urban regions. By 2030, this proportion is expected to climb to more than 60 percent. In an effort to highlight innovative solutions to the complex urban challenges resulting from this major demographic transformation, the Rockefeller Foundation, along with the Center for Sustainable Urban Development (CSUD), part of The Earth Institute at Columbia University, sponsored a month-long series of themed conferences in July, 2007. more about this project…