Cities have long been understood for shaping, and being shaped by, scientific and technical institutions and the knowledge they generate. The credibility of scientific claims stems from widely shared assumptions about where processes of discovery and justification take place, and about the people, instruments, specimens, inscriptions and infrastructure assembled in specific places. Universities, laboratories, museums, hospitals and other ”˜places of science’ are often located in cities and act as sites for
legitimate science-based public decisions. At the same time, science and scientific knowledge have shaped urban life – from transport and communication systems to urban planning and architectural norms. This talk explores these Science and the City connections through the lens of urban health and argues that in order to address persistent
urban health inequities, greater emphasis needs to be placed on ensuring that the science underwriting public policy is more open and democratic. A democratic science for the city emphasizes that truth is provisional, that questioning of experts should be encouraged, that steps forward may need corrective steps back, and that understanding history is the surest foundation for moving toward more healthy and just cities.


Jason Corburn is Associate Professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning and Co-Director of the Master of City Planning and Master of Public Health Degree Program, University of California - Berkeley. His research focuses on the links between environmental health and social justice in cities, notions of expertise in science-based policy making, and the role of local knowledge in addressing environmental and public health problems. His research and practice works to build
partnerships between urban residents, professional scientists and decision-makers in order to collaboratively generate policy and planning solutions that improve the qualities of cities and the well-being of residents, particularly the poor and people of color. Corburn is currently working with local governments and non-profits in California, the South Bronx, and the Mathare slum of Nairobi, Kenya, in projects developing “healthy city planning” indicators and community generated development alternatives. His book, Street Science: Community Knowledge and Environmental Health Justice (The MIT Press, 2005), won the 2007 Paul Davidoff best book award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). Corburn's latest book is Toward the Healthy City: People, Places, and the Politics of Urban Planning (The MIT Press, 2009). He received his B.A. from Brandeis University, and Master in City Planning and
Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.