Housing data politics in the United States: Inequitable open data, informal networks, and strategic neutrality
Name
Housing data politics in the United States Inequitable open data informal networks and strategic neutrality.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.31 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
a5cc94f8fd4ee6cb1631cc72e7e13bbb
Author(s)
Aizman, Asya
So, Wonyoung
Navalkha, Chenab
D’Ignazio, Catherine
Date Issued
September 11, 2025
Journal
Journal of Urban Affairs
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Citation
Aizman, A., So, W., Navalkha, C., & D’Ignazio, C. (2025). Housing data politics in the United States: Inequitable open data, informal networks, and strategic neutrality. Journal of Urban Affairs, 1–19.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Open housing data—property transactions, eviction filings, 311 complaints, and rental registries—have been a crucial resource for policymaking and real estate professionals. Meanwhile, housing data actors increasingly collect, analyze, and use data to address housing inequality, including efforts related to eviction prevention and land use reform, among others. This paper examines the motivations and practices of grassroots and institutional housing data actors. From a field scan of 67 entities engaged in housing data work across 12 U.S. states and 18 municipalities, we conducted 18 in-depth interviews to explore how housing data actors operate, their political goals, and data processes. We put forward a two‑axis framework that positions housing data actors according to their organizational structure (institutional/grassroots) and their stated data ideology (neutral/political). This framework contributes to understanding how different actors navigate complex issues such as embedded power dynamics and ethics in housing data. This two-axis view supplies a vocabulary for tracing how normative commitments and material constraints shape housing data pipelines and, ultimately, housing outcomes across the broader housing information ecosystem.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1080/07352166.2025.2554754
