Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
2-2022
Document Type
Capstone Project
Degree Name
M.S.
Program
Data Analysis & Visualization
Advisor
Eleanor Frymire
Subject Categories
Graphic Communications | Social Justice
Keywords
housing, housing data, data visualization, New York City
Abstract
While the COVID-19 pandemic is at its forefront a health crisis, it also triggered an upheaval in the already dire housing situation endured by many New York City renters. Tenant fears of rent increases, deferred maintenance, and displacement certainly worsened during the pandemic. But the housing crisis is, at the same time, part of a perpetual real estate cycle contingent on speculation and the symbiotic relationship of landlords, investors, and lenders in pursuit of profit – to the detriment of tenants.
Following years of lending deregulation, funding cuts, and tax reform, the financialization of housing emerged. Real estate speculation, where housing is regarded as a commodity and a source of investment, runs on risk. Investors scout out locations where they foresee large-scale changes, such as rezoning and infrastructure development, and buy and sell properties in and around the area with the intent of maximizing their assets.
With these considerations, this project uses a dataset of the expenses and incomes of select New York City landlords to explore how data visualizations can be used to navigate through the data points; and identify potential occurrences of property speculation, with the aim of finding personal stories of people and families living in a city of persistent precarity.
Recommended Citation
Cheng, Jennifer, "Disrepair, Displacement and Distress: Finding Housing Stories Through Data Visualizations" (2022). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/4721
Archived version of project website
capstone-gh_repo.zip (5480 kB)
GitHub repository at time of deposit (Jan. 28, 2022)
Comments
Online component: https://cheje.github.io/csgc/