Luciana DiFrancesco, Verrazzano Class of 2021, completed major in Geography
For my capstone, which addresses the affordable housing crisis in New York City, I learned how difficult it would be to solve this problem considering how city developers view real estate as a commodity rather than a natural right.
When viewing at housing as a profit, constant efforts are made to increase the value of the city, leading to gentrification. Low-income communities are pushed out of their homes that they can no longer afford due to rent increases, as developers accommodate their neighborhoods to the wealthy. The option to obtain affordable housing as a solution to gentrification is near to impossible, with wait lists as long as several years. I now sympathize even more with low-income residents of New York City as I have a better understanding of their struggle. The city works against them as the real-estate capital of the world.
Through my research, I learned about the formations of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and smart city technologies. NYCHA offers low-income residents affordable housing and is home to every 1 in 15 New Yorkers. They aim to improve their facilities and build more units throughout the five boroughs so they become more accessible to those who need their services. Smart cities claim to aid the affordable housing crisis by saving the city an abundance of money through smart lighting and other technologies they provide. They also promise to collect data in regards to social justice so the voices of the residents could be heard in regard to housing, but these opportunities are not evenly dispersed throughout the city, leaving those who need it the most without a voice. I also learned about the executive Cabinet department known as the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which provides policies and fair housing for all citizens.
If I continued to pursue this research, I would further focus on efforts being made to address the affordable housing crisis, and list additional actions that lead to the issue intensifying such as redlining, the lack of available job opportunities and the rising cost of transportation. All of these issues have a major impact on low-income families and would make my argument relating to the affordable housing crisis even stronger.
