CityLab

USA: Using Algorithms To Predict #Gentrification (?). What if there was an early warning system?

CityLab: “Data analysts are trying to give community development advocates the tools they need to fight displacement and economic decline.

“I know it when I see it,” is as true for gentrification as it is for pornography. Usually, it’s when a neighborhood’s property values and demographics are already changing that the worries about displacement set in—rousing housing advocates and community organizers to action. But by that time, it’s often hard to pause, and put in safeguards for the neighborhood’s most vulnerable residents.

But what if there was an early warning system that detects where price appreciation or decline is about to occur? Predictive tools like this have been developed around the country, most notably by researchers in San Francisco. And their value is clear: city leaders and non-profits pinpoint where to preserve existing affordable housing, where to build more, and where to attract business investment ahead of time. But they’re often too academic or too obscure, which is why it’s not yet clear how they’re being used by policymakers and planners. … .”

https://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2017/02/algorithms-that-predict-gentrification/516945/