Evaluation criteria
What early signals in a proposal actually predict whether a pilot will scale.
Urban Development Grants Research · 2026–2027 · US, EU & Eastern Europe
From pilot to scaleWhat happens after the grant is won
A candid, practitioner-led study of how municipalities turn funded urban innovation pilots into lasting infrastructure — navigating procurement, cost inflation, and the operations funding gap along the way.
Comparing delivery models across three regions, with input from municipal officials, program leads, and urban strategists.
This study speaks to two different sides of the same grant. Choose the one closer to your work — it changes what's below.
Bridging the "valley of death" in urban grants
On paper, Challenge Grants are powerful catalysts for urban innovation. In practice, the transition from a funded concept to a sustainable urban asset runs through systemic bottlenecks few case studies admit to.
Picking winners you can't yet verify
Which early signals in a proposal actually predict a pilot will survive delivery, versus stall after the ribbon-cutting photo?
The scaling drop-off
Most funded pilots never secure a second round of institutional or private capital. Where exactly does that pipeline break?
Accountability without ground truth
Boards and donors want proof of impact. Site visits and final reports rarely capture what happened during construction.
Delivery-partner risk
How do you structure a grant so the winning team stays engaged through procurement and construction, not just through the pitch?
Bridging the "valley of death" in urban grants
On paper, Challenge Grants are powerful catalysts for urban innovation. In practice, the transition from a funded concept to a sustainable urban asset runs through systemic bottlenecks few case studies admit to.
Picking winners you can't yet verify
Which early signals in a proposal actually predict a pilot will survive delivery, versus stall after the ribbon-cutting photo?
Accountability without ground truth
Boards and donors want proof of impact. Site visits and final reports rarely capture what happened during construction.
The scaling drop-off
Most funded pilots never secure a second round of institutional or private capital. Where exactly does that pipeline break?
Delivery-partner risk
How do you structure a grant so the winning team stays engaged through procurement and construction, not just through the pitch?
“We aren't studying how grant applications should look on paper. We're mapping how city teams actually survive delivery.”
What we'll actually discuss
Grant structuring
Inflation clauses, milestone-based disbursement, and contingency reserves that hold up in practice.
Portfolio-level learning
How peer funds structure follow-on capital, or decide when to exit a stalled pilot.
Reporting that matters
What boards and donors should be asking for, beyond photos from the ribbon-cutting.
Meet the lead researcher
Ksenia Gavrilova
Head of Concept Development & Urban Strategy
I'm running this study as a practitioner, not an academic. My work is translating uncertainty, constraints, and stakeholder pressure into phased concepts that can actually be approved and delivered.
That means staying involved from initial sociological research through design, approvals, and on-site delivery — the part most grant retrospectives skip.
Why participate
Early access
Receive the Executive Policy Brief before public release.
Global benchmarking
See how your city's or fund's challenges compare to peers in the US and Europe.
Respect for your time
Twenty minutes, no prep needed — or five minutes in writing if a call doesn't fit your schedule.
Let's compare "expectation vs. reality" stories
Have experience taking a grant-funded project from award to delivery? I’d like to understand what happened between the proposal and the built result. Conversations can be on or off the record, and written responses can be anonymous.