The Pointillistic City

“Questioning our policy focus on the ‘neighborhood’ scale, O’Brien carefully excavates the multilayered, pointillistic city. Highlighting Boston’s use of urban informatics to address microspatial inequities, he shows how such policies can successfully address crime and environmental justice.”—Julian Agyeman, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University; coeditor of The Immigrant-Food Nexus“Like the pointillist painting style, where the larger picture is formed out of the aggregate of fine details, O’Brien’s book elevates the importance of street- and block-level analysis in our understanding and planning of cities, revealing deep diversity in urban form and patterns of urban segregation.”—Michael Batty, Bartlett Professor of Planning, University College London; author of The Computable City and Inventing Future Cities“A game-changing exploration of urban dynamics that revolutionizes our approach to understanding and addressing city issues. O’Brien’s work paves the way for nuanced urban policies that can transform our communities from the ground up.”—Beth Noveck, Professor, Northeastern University; Director, Burnes Center for Social Change; Director, The Governance Lab; Chief AI Strategist, State of New Jersey

Daniel T. O’Brien is Professor in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Northeastern University and Director of the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI), which advances civically engaged research in collaboration with the communities of greater Boston. He is the author of The Urban Commons and the textbook Urban Informatics.