Housing Affordability and Gentrification: A System’s View of Creative Destruction

Research Team

Gretchen Trast

Gracie Rule

Project Summary

Housing unaffordability and insecurity are pervasive issues in the United States. Recent emphasis on urbanization has led to mass migration to city centers, disrupting existing neighborhoods and displacing communities. Communities hit the hardest by these redevelopment efforts are poor, working class communities and people of color who have historically been discriminated against in housing policy. In this report, we construct a systems map to explain the current forces at play in the housing market. Analysis shows that the economic market, unregulated by government and controlled by wealthy investors, dictates the cost and supply of housing with little regard for those in need of housing. By identifying key stakeholders in the housing system, we determine potential leverage points to shift the system towards prioritization of housing justice over profit. Ultimately, we suggest four potential solutions that involve these key stakeholders and that could begin to disrupt the entrenched, unjust system of housing in the United States.

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Written Summary  

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