
I2UD is a non-profit organization specializing in urban planning to address issues of:
Climate change adaptation
Historic Preservation
Municipal management and finance
Regional and cross-border cooperation
Access to land, housing, and services for low-income communities, globally
Collaborate
Educate
Plan
Sustain
“The terms ‘urban development’ and ‘urbanization’ often conjure up vast, undeveloped spaces or slums. At I2UD, we simply recognize an underserved need that demands our attention.”
-John Driscoll
ABOUT US
Established in 2005, the Institute for International Urban Development (I2UD) regroups the academics and professionals who created and ran the Center for Urban Development Studies (CUDS) from 1987 to 2005.
The Center (CUDS) at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design was internationally recognized for applied research, advisory services, technical assistance to policy makers, and capacity building programs.
I2UD builds on this history of excellence, providing continued services in research, technical assistance, and capacity building as a registered non-profit organization in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Our current AI Climate Platform initiative is supported by the Patrick J Mc Govern Foundation Accelerator Grant, I2UD Board members and an AI for Earth Microsoft Azure Compute Grant.
Our new Digital Resources include the
The I2UD Document Library, a database to facilitate research access to materials from our project history, covering a global scope of urban development and planning initiatives.
The new I2UD Photography Galleries illustrate the geography and community of vulnerable housing communities, as seen through I2UD’s contributions to international urban planning.
Development of The I2UD Document Library and the Dr. Mona Serageldin Digital Archive (currently under development), are supported through I2UD Board contributions.
Our past activities have been funded by local and national governments, foundations and international organizations. Past partners and sponsors include The World Bank, UN-Habitat, USAID, the Inter-American Development Bank, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Aga Khan University, the Christensen Fund, the Jordanian Royal Scientific Society and the Peter Sager Wallenburg Charitable Trust.

I2UD Photography Gallery 8
The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation has included I2UD in their donation program, providing digital access to high resolution satellite images for our AI Climate Platform project.
The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation is a global 21st century philanthropy bridging the frontiers of artificial intelligence, data science, and social impact to create a thriving, equitable and sustainable future for all.
The Foundation’s work focuses on bringing together academia, practitioners, and civil society to pursue the potential of AI and data science to address some of the world’s most urgent challenges.
