#  Projects Library 

 



**Our Projects Library showcases two decades of applied public finance and civic leadership in action.**

Each project represents a real-world collaboration between Harvard graduate students, faculty, and government partners working to solve complex challenges across the Greater Boston region. From coastal resilience planning to municipal budgeting innovations, these projects highlight the Field Lab’s commitment to experiential learning, evidence-based policy, and public service. Explore the library to see how students translate classroom knowledge into measurable impact for cities and communities.

**2026 Spring Semester Projects**

This spring, students in the Greater Boston Applied Field Lab are partnering with municipalities and regional organizations across Massachusetts to tackle real-world budgeting, financial management, and operational challenges. Current projects include:

**Belmont, MA**  
**Client Partner:** Chris Ryan, Director of Planning and Building  
**Project Category:** Housing  
**Project:** Develop a flexible financial model and market analysis to test key development assumptions (e.g., height, density, parking, affordability, commercial mix) and demonstrate how design and policy choices affect developer feasibility and returns.  
**Analytical tools:** Financial modeling, market analysis, sensitivity analysis, benchmarking, interviews

**Fitchburg, MA**  
**Client Partner:** Mayor Sam Squailia  
**Project Category:** Capital Planning / Infrastructure  
**Project:** Analyze financing options and prioritization strategies to maintain and improve Fitchburg’s road network.  
**Analytical tools:** Benchmarking, scenario modeling, interviews, GIS/spatial analysis, financial analysis

**Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC)**  
**Client Partner:** Lizzi Weyant, Executive Director  
**Project Category:** Public Finance / Tax Policy  
**Project:** Model alternative Proposition 2½ levy limits and assess distributional impacts across different community types and taxpayer profiles.  
**Analytical tools:** Financial forecasting, backtesting, scenario modeling, benchmarking

**Somerville, MA – Curbside Composting**  
**Client Partner:** Mayor Jake Wilson  
**Project Category:** Operations / Environment  
**Project:** Benchmark curbside composting programs in comparable municipalities and build a fiscal model to identify breakeven and other scenarios based on participation rates and other key assumptions.  
**Analytical tools:** Financial modeling, budget development, benchmarking, sensitivity analysis

**Somerville, MA – 911 and 311 Co-Response Model**  
**Client Partner:** Mayor Jake Wilson  
**Project Category:** Operations / Shared Services / Public Safety / Behavioral Health  
**Project:** Map current dispatch protocols and interagency workflows for the 911 and 311 systems to support the expansion of a co-response model.  
**Analytical tools:** Operational analysis, process mapping, interviews, cost analysis

**Worcester, MA**  
**Client Partner:** Eric Batista, City Manager  
**Project Category:** Economic Development  
**Project:** Build illustrative redevelopment scenarios for 611 Main Street and translate development and policy assumptions into estimated assessed values to understand municipal fiscal implications.  
**Analytical tools:** Financial analysis and modeling, benchmarking, sensitivity analysis



 

 



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    City expand\_more  - Arlington (1)
- Austin, TX (1)
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- Billerica (1)
- Boston (27)
- Boston Public Schools (BPS) (2)
- Brockton (2)
- Brookline (1)
- Cambridge (1)
- Chelsea (1)
- Commonwealth of Massachusetts (2)
- Dearborn, MI (1)
- Everett (3)
- Gloucester (1)
- Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada) (1)
- Hartford, CT (1)
- Hayward, CA (1)
- Hingham (1)
- Hull (1)
- Long Beach, CA (2)
- Lynn (3)
- Manchester, NH (1)
- Massachusetts 6th Congressional District (5)
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR) (2)
- Massport (1)
- MBTA (13)
- Mount Vernon, NY (2)
- New Bedford (1)
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- Phoenix, AZ (1)
- Portland, ME (2)
- Providence, RI (3)
- Provincetown (2)
- Revere (3)
- Rochester, NY (1)
- Salem (2)
- Salt Lake City, UT (1)
- San Juan, PR (1)
- Sea Bright, NJ (1)
- Somerville (13)
- St. Petersburg, FL (1)
- Trenton, NJ (1)

 



 

   Course expand\_more  - DPI-325: Urban Politics Field Lab (16)
- MLD-412: Greater Boston Advanced Applied Field Lab (99)

 



 

   Policy Areas expand\_more  - Climate Resilience (9)
- Equity, Social & Enviromental Justice (4)
- Fiscal, Operational and Budgetary Analysis (69)
- Housing, Zoning, Land Use and Urban Development (13)
- Infrastructure and Capital Investment (10)
- Public Opinion and Civic Engagement (14)
- Urban Governance and Local Politics (14)

 



 

   Year expand\_more  - 2005 (1)
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- 2010 (5)
- 2012 (7)
- 2013 (4)
- 2014 (6)
- 2016 (6)
- 2017 (5)
- 2018 (7)
- 2019 (7)
- 2020 (8)
- 2021 (12)
- 2022 (8)
- 2023 (13)
- 2024 (7)
- 2025 (6)

 



 

  



 

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##  113 results 

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##  113 results 

  [### A Systematic Approach to Climate Resilience Planning

 ](/systematic-approach-climate-resilience-planning) The Field Lab partnered with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to examine climate-related risks affecting transit assets and infrastructure across the MBTA system. 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_3](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_3.png?itok=5Nd4vFn1) 

 



 

 

   [### Activity-Based Cost Analysis for Procurement

 ](/activity-based-cost-analysis-procurement) The Field Lab partnered with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to examine procurement processes and associated costs, including how procurement activities contribute to overall operating expenses. 

 

 

   ![Photo SGR](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Picture21.png?itok=p_qLM6Tr) 

 



 

 

   [### Advancing Environmental Justice in Chelsea

 ](/advancing-environmental-justice-chelsea) The Field Lab partnered with the City of Chelsea and the Environmental Protection Agency to support environmental justice planning and access to federal funding. 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_145](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_14_0.png?itok=5yPnYNWP) 

 



 

 

   [### Alternative-Source Revenue and Development Options for the Lynn MBTA Garage

 ](/alternative-source-revenue-and-development-options-lynn-mbta-garage) The Field Lab partnered with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to examine potential alternative uses and revenue scenarios for the underutilized Lynn Station parking garage 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_15](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_15.png?itok=M1BsxflO) 

 



 

 

   [### Assisting Multi-Unit Buildings with BERDO 2.0 Compliance

 ](/assisting-multi-unit-buildings-berdo-20-compliance) The Field Lab partnered with the City of Boston to examine compliance challenges associated with the Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO 2.0), with a focus on multi-owner residential buildings. 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_17](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_17.png?itok=P6gWvMcc) 

 



 

 

   [### Brighton Up the Block: Commercial Development

 ](/brighton-block-commercial-development) The Field Lab partnered with the Town of Belmont to examine commercial development opportunities along the Brighton Street corridor in the context of fiscal pressures and community priorities. 

 

 

   ![Project Library 1](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Belmont%20Pic.jpg?itok=SCD3o3gm) 

 



 

 

   [### Budgeting for Stormwater Management

 ](/budgeting-stormwater-management) The Field Lab partnered with the Town of Hingham to examine financial and budgeting considerations associated with meeting federally mandated stormwater management requirements. 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_1](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_1.png?itok=Hmt7D7Se) 

 



 

 

   [### Bulky Waste Collection System Analysis

 ](/bulky-waste-collection-system-analysis) The Field Lab partnered with the City of Hartford to examine the budgetary and operational impacts of recent changes to the city’s bulky waste collection system. 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_16](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_16.png?itok=bNg8in3N) 

 



 

 

   [### Capital Facilities Planning and Municipal Decision-Making

 ](/capital-facilities-planning-and-municipal-decision-making) The Field Lab partnered with the Town of Billerica to examine capital facilities planning processes and long-term infrastructure decision-making. 

 

 

   ![Urban_Policy_lab_2_public-space-](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/4_Article_Urban_Policy_lab_2_public-space-allocation.png?itok=YUmG8W1M) 

 



 

 

   [### Coastal Flood Risk and the Community Rating System

 ](/coastal-flood-risk-and-community-rating-system) The Field Lab partnered with the Office of Congressman Seth Moulton and coastal communities in the Massachusetts 6th Congressional District to examine flood risk and participation in the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System. The... 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_4](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_4.png?itok=nCwCLpiF) 

 



 

 

   [### Community Land Trust and Affordable Housing

 ](/community-land-trust-and-affordable-housing) The Field Lab partnered with the City of Somerville to examine community land trust models and their application within a local affordable housing context. 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_5](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-01/Project_Library_5.png?itok=upWwxiRC) 

 



 

 

   [### Community Perspectives to Inform Resilience Strategy

 ](/community-perspectives-inform-resilience-strategy) The Field Lab partnered with the City of Portland to examine adaptation challenges facing the working waterfront in the context of climate change and sea level rise. 

 

 

   ![Project_Library_27](/sites/g/files/omnuum12421/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-02/Project_Library_27.png?itok=8aNIh3El) 

 



 

 

  

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