Graduates say they agree that current government officials should be integrated into the center's research to get feedback on problem-solving strategies for state and local policy issues.

"Some of the focus should be on specific urban problems," says Bogg, citing Black-on-Black crime as one of two major issues facing many urban communities. "The other issue is growth--how growth in surrounding areas detracts from growth within urban centers."

Gomez-Ibanez says the center's additional resources will allow him to continue his research on growth management in central cities and suburbs, noting that almost all the planning in Boston suburbs is under local supervision. Because this planning creates tension between neighboring areas, he says he is trying to find a strategy that "promotes orderly development."

Social Programs

But while Bogg acknowledges the need to study growth management, he says he hopes that the center will examine social and health issues important to cities.

"It's also very important that we learn how to deal with the ever-changing health and social issues like AIDS, teen pregnancy and literacy--as opposed to police protection and infrastructure," Bogg says. "Those are important issues, but I am finding that we are getting more and more immersed in social concerns."

Bogg, who was a city manager in the Midwest and California before assuming the Richmond position, says that these social problems are the ones with which he has been confronted in all of the cities where he has worked.

"There really is a common thread among the problems that we face in urban areas," Bogg says. "I'm elated to find the funds are there for this kind of research."