What works in Boston
All catalogues · United States of America profile
Quality scores are 0–100 rubric scores; “strong evidence” reflects study design; adoptions count documented replications elsewhere. Know more
Evidence snapshot for Boston
Boston has pioneered community-based anti-displacement housing development through DSNI's land trust, which stewards 227 affordable homes across 30+ acres and became the only US city to grant eminent domain to a community organization. The city has also achieved significant cost savings through evidence-based infrastructure optimization: MWRA's watershed protection program avoided an estimated $180 million in filtration plant costs by protecting 75% of its supply watersheds as open space, and MIT's algorithm redesign of school bus routes cut approximately 50 buses from Boston Public Schools' fleet, saving up to $5 million annually. These practices demonstrate Boston's capacity for both equitable community development and data-driven operational efficiency.
Drawn from: Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative — Boston's Eminent-Domain Community Land Trust · Principles of Artificial Intelligence — Massachusetts' First Statewide K-12 AI Curriculum Pilot · MWRA Quabbin–Wachusett Watershed Protection Program (USA) · MIT's Optimization Algorithm Cuts Boston Public Schools' Bus Costs by $5 Million
Generated from this place's cited practices only. Always check the linked sources.
Strengths & weaknesses vs peers
Strengths
Inclusiveness / equity +58 pts 100 here · 42 average
Water & soil — retention, infiltration, erosion control +50 pts 100 here · 50 average
Innovation +37 pts 100 here · 63 average
Governance, certification & transferability +36 pts 100 here · 64 average
Multi-stakeholder collaboration +24 pts 100 here · 76 average
Sustainability / continuity +22 pts 100 here · 78 average
Transparency, ethics & data protection +19 pts 67 here · 48 average
Weaknesses
Evidence of learning impact -11 pts 17 here · 28 average
Biodiversity — conservation / improvement, evidenced -17 pts 33 here · 51 average
Transferability / demonstrated replication -26 pts 33 here · 60 average
Equity & inclusion -36 pts 17 here · 52 average
Score profile vs peers
Coloured bar: Boston. Grey bar: peer average across the corpus. Both on a common 0–100 scale.
Points compare this place's average on each dimension with the average across all evaluated places, on a common 0–100 scale. Know more
Top good practices here
Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative — Boston's Eminent-Domain Community Land Trust · 76
Principles of Artificial Intelligence — Massachusetts' First Statewide K-12 AI Curriculum Pilot · 53
MWRA Quabbin–Wachusett Watershed Protection Program (USA) · 53
MIT's Optimization Algorithm Cuts Boston Public Schools' Bus Costs by $5 Million · 33
Each number is the practice's overall 0–100 quality score against its catalogue's rubric. Know more
Recommended to adopt or replicate
Transferable practices from elsewhere that address this place's gaps.
Ciudad Mujer — El Salvador's Integrated Women's Services Programme · fit 100/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Already adopted in 3 other places
SASA! Community Mobilisation Programme against Intimate Partner Violence — Uganda · fit 100/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Already adopted in 4 other places
Rwanda's Land Tenure Regularization Programme — Titling Land in Women's Names · fit 90/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Already adopted in 6 other places
Copenhagen Business Hub (Erhvervshus Hovedstaden) · fit 90/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Stadtidee Aarau — Switzerland's First City-Wide Participatory Budget Using the Method of Equal Shares · fit 90/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Backed by strong evidence
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Abolition of Chhaupadi — Ending Menstrual Exile Huts in Nepal's Far- and Mid-Western Districts · fit 82/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Guyana's One-Third Gender Candidate Quota — Two Decades of Sustained Representation · fit 82/100
- Rated highly transferable
- Addresses this place's weak dimensions
Fit estimates how well a practice matches this place, 0 (poor) to 100 (excellent); the list is ordered to favour practices that address this place's gaps. Know more