The Manhattan Institute’s Center for Civic Innovation mandate is to improve the quality of life in cities by shaping public policy and enriching public discourse on urban issues.

Through researching, developing, and highlighting effective initiatives for urban reform, the Center for Civic Innovation and its Cities on a Hill project fulfill the Manhattan Institute’s mission to develop and disseminate new ideas that foster greater economic choice and individual responsibility.

From CCI’s urban revival publication, The Entrepreneurial City: A How-To Handbook for Urban Innovator, to CitiesOnAHill.org, we are constantly exploring how to best promulgate proven strategies with the people who make cities work.

Cities on a Hill is a dynamic resource on effective urban governance for public officials and opinion leaders. This is a web-based guide to the ideas and policies that have made a significant difference in shaping the quality of life and of public services in cities.

The website focuses on six key issues at the forefront of city reform—Prisoner Reentry, Pension Reform, Public Housing, Infrastructure, School Choice, and Policing. Each issue’s page offers a reference database of research, books, and articles—good ideas that can make cities better.

Each year, the Urban Innovator Award distinguishes the public officials whose innovative policies have demonstrated an improvement in the quality of America’s metropolitan landscape and of the lives of the people who inhabit it.

Previous award winners include Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, and Philadelphia Schools Chief Executive Paul Vallas.

Reform can occur at all levels of government and Cities on a Hill seeks to learn about the innovative policies that have enabled America's cities to thrive.