{"id":527,"date":"2024-09-24T20:14:47","date_gmt":"2024-09-24T20:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/datastories.maynoothuniversity.ie\/?p=527"},"modified":"2024-10-16T08:32:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T08:32:20","slug":"data-stories-workshop-the-data-politics-of-planning-and-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/datastories.maynoothuniversity.ie\/?p=527","title":{"rendered":"Data Stories Workshop: The Data Politics of Planning and Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the 2<\/span>nd<\/span> and 3<\/span>rd<\/span> of September 2024 a group of academics, practitioners and activists gathered at Maynooth University for a two-day workshop to examine the data politics shaping and underpinning housing and planning. With material drawing from case studies on Ireland, Australia, the US, UK, Kenya, South Africa and the Netherlands, the presentations featured a variety of regional perspectives.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Pr<\/span>ofessor Rob Kitchin <\/span> opened<\/span> the workshop with an introduction to the Data Stories project. He discussed key points of data politics, and key \u2018data debates\u2019 relating to housing, <\/span>planning<\/span> His opening<\/span> was followed by <\/span>five<\/span> themed sessions<\/span>: 1) <\/span>Property information<\/span>;<\/span> 2) <\/span>Planning<\/span>; 3) <\/span>Financialisation<\/span>,<\/span> p<\/span>latforms, residential\/commercial real <\/span>estate<\/span>; <\/span>4<\/span>) <\/span>Renting, landlords, evictions, vacancy<\/span>;<\/span> and<\/span> 5) <\/span>Data activism and counter-data activism. <\/span>We concluded the <\/span>workshop with a<\/span> panel discussion <\/span>summarising <\/span>overarching issues\/themes of the workshop.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

This blog post outlines key topics that arose throughout the workshop, structured around each of the themed sessions and the final panel discussion.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Day 1<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

Property information\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

In the session, <\/span>Dr Mariana Reyes<\/span><\/a> presented the work of herself, <\/span>Dr Dennis Muthama<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Prof Ayona Datta<\/span><\/a> on the development control aspect of the planning system in Kenya, a system in transition after the introduction of automation. While the automation process is billed as improving efficiency, reducing corruption, speeding up the planning process and increasing investment, the transition has not been simple due to developers using multiple strategies to avoid planning processes, including constructing buildings at night. This presentation was followed by Dr <\/span>Elsa Noterman<\/span><\/a>, who discussed the concept of \u2018data deferral\u2019<\/span> through recounting the arduous process of submitting a freedom of information act request. This concept assists in naming a variety of strategies that hinder access to what is ostensibly \u2018public\u2019 data, as those seeking to access the data are continuously denied, redirected and delayed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dr Daan Bossuyt<\/span><\/a> examined the processes and techniques resulting in the privatisation of public property through analysing how the Dutch Central Real Estate Agency and the Ministry of Defence deal with public real estate. Contrary to expectations, Dr Bossuyt found that the sale of public land held by the Ministry of Defence is not oriented towards the financialised nature of assets, but rather focused on cost metrics and replacement value. This focus leads to attention on short-term outcomes and avoiding high maintenance costs. Finally in this session, <\/span>Dr Juliette Davret<\/span><\/a> presented the work of herself, <\/span>Dr Samuel Mutter<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Dr Carla Kayanan<\/span><\/a>, Prof Rob Kitchin and <\/span>Mel Galley<\/span><\/a>. Dr Davret examined processes of commodification of open data, considering the implications of open data being scraped, cleaned, put together with other datasets by private companies and then sold \u2013 sometimes back to those who originally produced the data.<\/span><\/p>\n

Planning<\/h3>\n

Through an analysis of a metropolitan strategic plan, <\/span><\/span>Prof Stephanie <\/span>D\u00fchr<\/span><\/span><\/a> examined the political framing of data needs within such plans. <\/span>Questions that arose include<\/span>d<\/span> \u2013 what data is needed to meaningfully evaluate strategic policies? How does this compare with the datasets that are already available? Can the mismatch between the two <\/span>point<\/span> to instances of \u2018<\/span>policy based<\/span> evidence making\u2019?<\/span> T<\/span>hen, <\/span>Dr Carla Kayanan<\/span> discussed work done along with Dr Juliette <\/span>Davret<\/span>, <\/span>Dr <\/span>Samuel Mutter and <\/span>Prof <\/span>Rob Kitchin on the data mobilities and data politics of planning. <\/span>By examining the evolution of Ireland\u2019s data ecosystem, the presentation <\/span>sought<\/span> to move<\/span> beyond<\/span> questions <\/span>of<\/span> inequalities that arise from <\/span>access<\/span> to technology,<\/span> to <\/span>consider<\/span> how <\/span>data practices and day<\/span>–<\/span>to<\/span>–<\/span>day operations<\/span> demonstrate<\/span> alternative forms of inequality and power dynamics<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Continuing the discussion of strategic planning, <\/span>Dr Claire Daniel<\/span><\/a> considered the unintended consequences of open planning data and analytics. Whilst the open data movement began with (and continues to espouse) the values of transparency and citizen empowerment \u2013 this does not capture the full view of open data. In reality, it can be difficult to use, invoke neoliberal models of individual agency and have unintended harmful consequences. Dr Daniel considered whether the use of open data by intermediaries, such as consultants, in effect makes the planning processes less transparent. Finally for the planning session, <\/span>Dr Scott Markley<\/span><\/a> discussed the rise of \u2018municipal data solutions startups\u2019 \u2013 startup companies offering a supposed solution to the problems arising from the highly fragmented, scattered, vague and confusing zoning system in the US. These companies are proliferating, claiming to, as one company\u2019s tagline states, \u2018empower the property industry\u2019. The data these companies produce appear to be replete with errors and inconsistencies, as is the source data they are working with, due to zoning boundaries being poorly digitised and sourced from different places, at times not matching up. It is not clear how companies handle these issues, and someone, somewhere in the company must make (potentially arbitrary) decisions about where a boundary falls, or how a region is zoned. In some of these cases, as Dr Markley said, \u2018to make a decision is to become the authority\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Financialisation, platforms, residential\/commercial real estate<\/span><\/h3>\n

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Kick starting this session, <\/span><\/span>Dr Julien <\/span>Migozzi<\/span><\/span><\/a> discussed how urban housing markets drive digital capitalism, and how digital capitalism upholds wealth inequalities and segregation within the context of global real estate networks. <\/span>Dr <\/span>Migozzi<\/span> considered this through three key dimensions: legal, <\/span>algorithmic<\/span> and financial. Looking at this through public facing housing property portals in South Africa, Dr <\/span>Migozzi<\/span> found these portals recode housing inequalities, recycling apartheid boundaries for neighbourhood boundaries. <\/span>PropTech<\/span>, he argues, is <\/span>RentTech<\/span> \u2013 it fosters a traditional rentier model through the market, creating algorithmic rents from data services and software, and brings housing into the information economy. <\/span>Next, <\/span><\/span>Dr Sophia <\/span>Maalsen<\/span><\/span><\/a> discussed working with social media content creators to advocate for tenants<\/span>\u2019<\/span> rights, research done <\/span>with<\/span> Drs <\/span><\/span>Peta <\/span>Wolifson<\/span><\/span><\/a> and <\/span><\/span>Dallas Rogers<\/span><\/span><\/a>. Dr <\/span>Maalsen<\/span> considered the difficulty of navigating multiple relationships with non-academic peers, as well as external partners, <\/span>alongside<\/span> the benefits of sharing academic research through storytelling <\/span>on<\/span> non-traditional platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. These considerations were <\/span>made <\/span>in the context of a project considering the (<\/span>im<\/span>)possibility of tenants having as much information about their landlords, as landlords have about tenants. The project advertised a fictional app, <\/span><\/span>Know Your Landlord<\/span><\/span><\/a>, that would allow tenants to vet their landlords.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Then <\/span>Dr Maedhbh Nic Lochlainn<\/span><\/a> discussed the transformation of Dublin\u2019s Docklands drawing on Erin McElroy\u2019s theory of siliconization. Examining the history of the area through various data sources, Dr Nic Lochlainn recounted the increasing financialisation of the area in the particular context of how Ireland was marketed as a safe, secure, desirable, English speaking location to invest in. In continuing to examine how the increasing financialisation of the city has been, and continues to be possible, Dr Nic Lochlainn found that doing this critical urban research \u2018is partly like solving a crime that happened long ago, and partly like watching a very long and very slow car crash\u2019. Closing out the day <\/span>Dr Richard Waldron<\/span><\/a> discussed work done in collaboration with <\/span>Dr Declan Redmond<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Dr Bernie O\u2019Donoghue-Hynes<\/span><\/a> examining the intricacies of understanding emergency accommodation use patterns of homeless families in Ireland. This is not straightforward work, as how this is recorded is not consistent (for example, in some cases children are not recorded at all, or are not recorded as part of a family unit so appear separately). Dr Waldron considered whether administrative data from emergency accommodation providers assist in monitoring presentation by families.<\/span><\/p>\n

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After a delightful dinner at Maynooth\u2019s Pugin Hall and some well-earned rest, attendees gathered again bright and early for Day 2 of the workshop.<\/span><\/p>\n

Day 2<\/h2>\n

Renting, landlords, evictions, vacancy<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Dr Rachel Slaymaker<\/span><\/a> opened up the second day of the workshop discussing the changing data landscape in the Irish Private Rental Sector (PRS). Slaymaker demonstrated how two new metrics included in the data collected by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) can help better understand trends in PRS. However, Slaymaker cautioned that certain challenges remain in the data collection and analysis process, such as frequent housing policy changes and slow administrative changes related to data collection. <\/span>Dr Erin McElroy<\/span><\/a> then brought our focus to the various types of data methods tenant and housing organisers employ, mostly in San Francisco but also in other cities across the US and the globe, to identify corporate ownership trends and organise multi-building tenant associations and unions. McElroy\u2019s presentation served as a powerful demonstration of the role of collective resistance against evictions, and how data stories can highlight issues of displacement contribute to resistance. An existing challenge to Ireland\u2019s inability to address housing availability is the flattened categorisation of what constitutes as \u2018vacant\u2019 in Irish policy. <\/span>Dr Cian O\u2019Callaghan<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Dr Kathleen Stokes<\/span><\/a> grapple with this issue in their research. Their presentation provided a critical reading of how vacancy is understood in Ireland and the different narratives that emerge based on these interpretations. Providing additional empirics on the role of policy shaping the data landscape, <\/span>Prof Michelle Norris<\/span><\/a> closed off the session with findings from the analysis of Ireland\u2019s Social Housing Assessments Report (SSHA) and Housing Assistant Payment (HAP) data sets from 2016 – 2022. The work, undertaken alongside Dr <\/span>Cliodhna Bair\u00e9ad<\/span><\/a>,<\/span> charts the increased reliance on data to inform policy, but the problematic that emerges in relation to data analysis in a period when housing and its accompanying policy is politicised, scrutinised and contested. Prof Norris was at pains to stress the troublesome issues that emerge with data analysis when fickle policy can change the direction of collection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Data activism and counter-data actions\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

In the final session, Dr Juliette Davret and Dr Samuel Mutter presented work completed with artists <\/span>Joan Somers Donnelly<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Augustine O\u2019Donoghue<\/span><\/a>, outlining similarities and divergences between the tactics of direct action and lobbying as data activism. They discussed the potential of these two approaches to resist neoliberal urbanism and defend the right to housing, and considered whether social movements could be thought of as data infrastructures. <\/span>Wonyoung So<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Asya Aizman<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Chenab Navalkha<\/span><\/a> presented on work completed with <\/span>Catherine D\u2019Ignazio<\/span><\/a>, examining the motivations behind various housing data projects and the possibility of making data useful. They found some actors take a position of \u2018strategic neutrality\u2019, portraying a neutral position in order to be taken seriously in certain circles, and to have greater potential for influence (e.g. with policy makers). They called for more equitable and justice oriented housing data infrastructures.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Dr Danielle Hynes<\/span><\/span><\/a> examined the implications of increasing datafication of processes of participation for social housing <\/span>tenants, and<\/span> considered whether datafication impedes the possibility of political voice and genuine listening for tenants. Finally, <\/span><\/span>Jillian Crandall<\/span><\/span><\/a> presented their research, examining how dispossession, displacement, and disenfranchisement of low-income Black communities is perpetuated through housing speculation and <\/span>financialisation<\/span>. Jillian outlined how cadastral mapping has caused disaster \u2013 echoing the findings of Dr <\/span>Migozzi<\/span> in outlining how cadastral mapping is tied to redlining, inequitable taxation and has been used as a tool of colonialism.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Final panel<\/span><\/h3>\n

The workshop concluded with a panel discussion between Prof Rob Kitchin, <\/span>Dr Daithi Downey<\/span><\/a>, Prof Michelle Norris, Dr Sophia Maalsen and Dr Erin McElroy. The panel members reflected on some themes repeated throughout the workshop, and then all attendees engaged in discussion around these themes. The discussion touched on:<\/span><\/p>\n