# Civic Life of Cities Lab > Through research on nonprofits and the communities they serve, the Civic Life of Cities Lab brings together scholars from around the world to understand the organizational building blocks of a vibrant civil society. ## Pages - [Videos](https://civiclifeofcities.org/videos/): How can you use digital engagement to serve your constituents? What does it take to be a successful organization in the Bay? How do nonprofits contribute to civic capacity? How has technology changed transparency? What is interesting about Shenzhen? Why study cities? Greetings from our Vienna Team - [Our Teams](https://civiclifeofcities.org/our-teams/): Over 40 people from 15 academic institutions have contributed to the data collection and analysis of CLC over the years. Some of us have moved up, on, and around since the start of our data collection. Lab members are listed by the CLC city to which they felt most attached. Recent members are listed in the virtual team, and former members are listed in the alumni section). You can click the images to learn more about these CLC Lab members. (If you are a current or former lab member and want your image or description updated, email us!) San Francisco […] - [Contact Us](https://civiclifeofcities.org/contact-us/): For questions about our lab and work, please use the following form. Thank you for your interest! - [Publications](https://civiclifeofcities.org/publications/): The Civic Life of Cities Library Over the years, CLC researchers have produced over 50 papers using data or ideas from the lab. Several of these works have won major awards. We have also compiled these works into a publicly accessible library on Zotero and a BibText file (with PDFs where available). 2025 Community leadership in a dynamic perspective: An exploratory study of community foundations in Hong Kong during the COVID-19 pandemic Han, Ling, and Xinning Gou. 2025. “Community Leadership in a Dynamic Perspective: An Exploratory Study of Community Foundations in Hong Kong During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Nonprofit Policy Forum: […] - [News](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/news/): CLC cross-city comparative research published in Nature Cities, October 2024 Organizational practices, such as interacting with and advocating for constituents or engaging in event hosting and collaboration, are critical to integration—creating connections across lines of difference. However, these practices are unevenly distributed across neighborhoods and shaped by neighborhood characteristics. Here, connecting organizational and neighborhood-level data, this study explores how neighborhood affluence (income) and heterogeneity(migrant population share) affect the integrative practices among civil society organizations. Using unique survey data from five global cities, we analyze the organizational practices of 863 civil society organizations in 536 neighborhoods.We find that social integration practices—connecting […] - [Insights](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/): Select where you want to go: find out more about our cities, recent news from lab members, or videos explaining our approach. Or contact us with any question you may have! - [Vienna](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/vienna/): Regional Overview With its 2.5 million inhabitants, the Vienna region is the biggest urban center in Austria, and also the second largest German speaking city (second only to Berlin). Vienna serves as a hub for the wider Central European region that stretches beyond national borders, including Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, and the southern parts of the Czech Republic. Vienna still draws on its history as an imperial capital, working as a central place for the intellectual, civic, and business life of middle Europe. Civil society organizations (CSOs) play an important role in social and economic life of the Vienna region. A […] - [Taipei](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/taipei/): Regional Overview With a population of nearly 7 million people, the Taipei metropolitan area includes both Taipei City and New Taipei City (formerly Taipei County). Urban centers on the island of 13,974 mi² (most comparable to the state of Maryland) are densely populated, with Taipei being its political, economic, and cultural hub. Homegrown tech companies such as ASUS, HTC, and D-Link were founded in the Taipei area, with many others such as Acer and Foxconn  headquartered in the region. Civic organizations and activists played a critical role during Taiwan’s democratic transition in the 1980s and 90s, building on the mobilization […] - [Sydney](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/sydney/): Regional Overview Sydney, located on the southeastern coast of Australia in New South Wales, overtook Melbourne as Australia’s most populous city in the early twentieth century. Today, Greater Sydney consists of 35 local council areas covering 12,367 sq km. The City of Sydney is a small part of the greater metropolitan area (only about 0.4%) geographically, but it is the economic and financial center of Australia. As of 2016, the population of Greater Sydney was greater than 5 million, thus more than one of every five Australians live in The Sydney metropolitan area.  Economically, Sydney’s influence is even greater. Its […] - [Singapore](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/singapore/): Regional Overview Singapore, with its short modern history as a city-state, exploded into Southeast Asia as the region’s most developed city in a mere 50 years. Today, the tiny red dot that spans across 710 sq km is a political, economic, and cultural mecca for the world, attracting internationally renowned businesses like Rakuten and Facebook while driving strong home-grown brands like the United Overseas Bank and Singtel overseas. As the 7th highest GDP per capita in the world, as reported by the International Monetary Fund, Singapore has been called innovative, competitive, dynamic, and business friendly. Its economy is also imbricated with […] - [Shenzhen](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/shenzhen/): Regional Overview With its rapid economic expansion and burgeoning nonprofit sector, Shenzhen has a reputation as China’s Silicon Valley. Located in the Guangdong Province, Shenzhen was designated China’s first Special Economic Zone. Since this policy initiative in the 1980’s. the city has grown dramatically from a fishing village of 50,000 to home for more than 12 million people today. Of this population, around four million people are permanent registered residents while approximately 8 million people are non-registered workers that have migrated to the city for work. The city is also home to some of the largest technology corporations in China, […] - [Seattle](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/seattle/): Regional Overview The Puget Sound area is a vibrant, progressive region of Washington state. Anchored by its largest city, Seattle, the state capitol, Olympia, and Tacoma, approximately 4 million people live in the nine counties that comprise the area. The local economy is recognized for several key industries, including aerospace, technology, and retail. Major local companies include Amazon, Microsoft, Starbucks, Boeing, Costco, Alaska Airlines, and Nordstrom. Seattle is ranked second and Tacoma tenth in Forbes annual list of America’s fastest-growing cities. Seattle is among the most highly educated cities in the nation, with 56 percent of residents having at least an undergraduate degree, and is home to the University of Washington […] - [San Francisco](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/san-francisco/): Regional Overview The San Francisco Bay Area has a long history of activism and engagement. The Bay Area is a fertile region for civil society organizations, out of which sprang environmental, free speech, women’s rights, gay rights and other movements. Although the Bay Area built its reputation for igniting change for progressive issues, in the 1980’s it began to transform itself into a tech-based economy across its various urban and suburban areas: San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and the Silicon Valley peninsula including Palo Alto and San Jose. Today, the ten-county region with over nine million people is known for being […] - [About Our Research](https://civiclifeofcities.org/about-our-research/): Across the world, nonprofit organizations are part of the social fabric. They cultivate political and creative expression and spur movements for environmental preservation and human rights. They provide shelter, sanctuary, and support for people in need. And by creating spaces for people to convene both within and across lines of difference, they serve as bulwarks of community cohesion. Initially established in 2002 as a study of nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay Area, the project has since expanded to include seven cities around the world: San Francisco, Seattle, Shenzhen, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, and Vienna. Through a combination of surveys, interviews, […] - [Home](https://civiclifeofcities.org/): Through research on nonprofits and the communities they serve, the Civic Life of Cities Lab brings together scholars from around the world to understand the organizational building blocks of a vibrant civil society. The Civic Life of Cities Lab (CLC) started at the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS) in 2017 and has evolved into a virtual community of researchers at over a dozen leading academic institutions investigating these questions based on the data of our original CLC teams in seven global cities: San Francisco, Seattle, Shenzhen, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, and Vienna. On our website, you can read […] - [City Overview](https://civiclifeofcities.org/insights/city-overview/): Our seven metropolitan regions provide a unique landscape for our research. The cities are consequential “lifestyle” cities, noted for their quality of life, attention to public health issues, citizen involvement, and innovation. Although none are world financial capitals, they are all in the forefront of global rankings. They are places where people migrate to and then have to deal with a constant influx of people. San Francisco, Taipei and Shenzhen are tech centers; Seattle and San Francisco are liberal west coast cities, Vienna, Singapore, and Sydney are in nations with strong social safety nets. Seattle, Singapore, Sydney and Vienna are […] [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)