CUED conducts research, policy analysis and evaluation on urban issues. We help our partners develop and evaluate strategies for improving conditions in low- and moderate-income communities, with a special focus on enhancing the lives of workers in the low-wage labor market. Our expertise in urban development and labor markets allows us to analyze economic trends across scales – from the block, to the neighborhood, to the city, to the nation, and beyond.
We are a small organization of creative research professional with deep knowledge of urban issues and futures. Our flexibility and experience enables us to simultaneously manage long-term studies and short-term surveys, multi-year evaluations and projects with fast approaching deadlines.
The Center for Urban Economic Development (CUED) was established at the University of Illinois at Chicago's School of Urban Planning and Policy in 1978. Since that time we have worked with dozens of cities and community groups to improve the economic life of urban neighborhoods, and have published hundreds of reports towards that end.