Labs at AAP catalyze imagination and innovation to address urgent challenges facing our cities and communities. Led by faculty with deep disciplinary and trans-disciplinary expertise, the labs forge networks and collaborations that push boundaries to advance a more resilient, sustainable, and just world.
Labs Affiliated with the Center for Cities
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Adaptive Land Lab
Studies why cities adopt regressive climate adaptation practices and what alternative approaches to property rights, land use and fiscal policies, and regional governance would enable more equitable and sustainable futures.
![A wooden bridge leading to a row of houses surrounded by trees.]()
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Water In, Water Out Lab
Produces new research on the water to waste cycle, across actionable scales, from source protection to household access. The lab connects knowledge to action to create more equitable and sustainable urban water management systems.
![A hand pump used for extracting water next to a bucket.]()
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Just Places Lab
A multi-disciplinary research lab for igniting creative action, public imagination, and participatory place-keeping in the built environment.
![hand drawn urban map]()
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Circular Construction Lab
Activates research to shift material consumption toward a circular model for designing and building a sustainable, low / no-carbon construction industry.
![Rusty metal pipes in front of blue and white glass panes.]()
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&Lab
A space born out of collaboration aimed at fostering new pedagogies and modes of public and civic-academic alliance through architectural design, architectural humanities, and the modes of research, teaching, and learning that animate them.
![Yellowed book pages with black text and symbols within.]()
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Realtime Urbanism Lab
Investigates the social impacts of new technologies that virtualize cities and populations. The lab produces research using extended reality interfaces, gaming engines, agent-based simulations, digital twins, and smart urban systems.
![Colorful humanoid graphics walking around a city street surrounded by buildings and trees.]()
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Local Government Restructuring Lab
From finance and infrastructure policy to economic development, planning, and public health, the Local Government Restructuring Lab explores cutting-edge research to inform public practice.
![People in discussion]()
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Regenerative Architecture Lab
Investigates alternative building materials and innovative construction techniques for a healthier and more regenerative built environment in the context of developed and developing territories.
![Concrete panels creating a curved shape.]()
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Housing + Property Lab
Examines the effects of global housing investment on local neighborhoods and household access to affordable, secure, and stable housing.
![Rows of houses and buildings surrounded by streets and grass.]()
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Rural-Urban Building Innovation Lab
Explores the intersection of urbanization, novel material methods, and technology to create and experiment with hybridized design and construction processes in the urban fringe.
![Multicolored spline shapes on a pink background with white numbers and letters.]()
