Urban Displacement Project

Urban Displacement Project
Name	Urban Displacement Project
Founded	2013
Founder	University of California, Berkeley researchers
Focus	Housing displacement, gentrification, urban policy
Location	San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States

Urban Displacement Project is a research initiative based at the University of California, Berkeley that documents patterns of residential displacement, gentrification, and neighborhood change. The Project connects spatial analysis, community organizing, and policy engagement to produce maps, datasets, and reports used by scholars, advocates, and public agencies. Its work has intersected with debates in cities across the United States and internationally.

Overview

The Project produces spatially disaggregated analyses of housing change linking demographic shifts, rental markets, and development trends using partnerships with community groups, municipal offices, and academic centers. It has collaborated with organizations and institutions such as National Low Income Housing Coalition, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, San Francisco Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development, Oakland Housing Authority, California Housing Partnership Corporation, and Public Advocates, Inc. to inform local planning efforts. Its outputs have been referenced by reporters at outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and ProPublica and cited in scholarship associated with authors at Harvard University, Columbia University, Stanford University, University of Chicago, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

History and Origins

Founded in the early 2010s by researchers affiliated with UC Berkeley’s urban planning programs and community-legal clinics, the Project emerged amid high-profile housing debates involving actors such as Jerry Brown (California governor), Gavin Newsom (San Francisco mayor), and municipal coalitions including East Bay Housing Organizations and San Francisco Tenants Union. Early funding and partnership networks included foundations and agencies like the Ford Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and municipal planning departments in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, and Los Angeles. The Project’s development corresponded with high-profile events including the 2008 financial crisis, the 2010s tech boom in the San Francisco Bay Area, and policy initiatives such as California’s AB 1482 (tenant protections) and local ballot measures. Key academic and advocacy interlocutors have included scholars who worked at Brookings Institution, Urban Institute, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and legal clinics linked to Yale Law School and UC Berkeley School of Law.

Methodology and Data Sources

The Project combines census-derived metrics, housing transaction records, eviction filings, building permit data, and proprietary rental listings to produce neighborhood-level risk indices. Data sources and partners have included the U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, county assessor offices in Alameda County, San Francisco County, Contra Costa County, Los Angeles County, municipal code enforcement databases, and commercial datasets from firms similar to Zillow, Redfin, and CoStar Group. Analytical techniques draw on spatial analysis tools from platforms such as ArcGIS, programming languages developed at institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology (e.g., Python (programming language) libraries), and statistical methods associated with scholars at Princeton University and University of California, Los Angeles. Community-sourced information has been gathered through partnerships with groups such as Eviction Defense Network, Homeless Action Center, Tenants Together, and legal aid organizations like Legal Aid Society.

Major Findings and Reports

Major reports have documented patterns of displacement risk correlated with rent increases, redevelopment projects, and transit-oriented development. Publications and briefs have analyzed outcomes relative to policies in cities including San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York City, and Chicago. The Project’s maps and reports have been cited in policy analyses alongside work from Center for American Progress, Economic Policy Institute, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and researchers at University of Pennsylvania. Findings often highlight the disproportionate impacts on communities represented by organizations like Casa Latina, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and Black Lives Matter Bay Area.

Policy Influence and Advocacy

The Project’s evidence base has been used to advocate for tenant protections, inclusionary housing, rent control, and community land trusts in jurisdictions including San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Its maps have informed campaigns alongside coalitions such as Coalition on Homelessness, California Calls, San Francisco Tenants Union, and policy proposals associated with elected officials including London Breed, Libby Schaaf, Erin Brockovich-adjacent environmental activists, and statewide legislators. The Project’s datasets have been incorporated into municipal planning processes, environmental impact statements tied to California Environmental Quality Act and urban renewal plans influenced by agencies such as Metropolitan Transportation Commission and San Francisco Planning Department.

Criticisms and Controversies

Critics have questioned the Project’s methodology, granularity, and use of proprietary data, raising concerns voiced by scholars and commentators at institutions including Cato Institute, Hoover Institution, Manhattan Institute, and independent researchers in publications like The Atlantic and CityLab. Debates center on attribution of causality between development projects and displacement, potential impacts on property values, and the political uses of risk maps by advocacy groups. Some real estate industry groups, including representatives from National Association of Realtors and regional developer associations, have disputed findings and emphasized alternative explanations promoted by analysts at Urban Land Institute and private consultancies.

Impact and Case Studies

Case studies document the Project’s role in shaping local initiatives such as tenant relocation assistance programs in San Francisco, community land trust expansions in Oakland, and legislative campaigns in Sacramento. Its influence is visible in academic citations by scholars at University of Michigan, Yale University, University of California, Davis, and policy briefs used by municipal governments from Portland, Oregon to Miami. Community partners from Mission Neighborhood Centers, East Bay Community Law Center, and Tenderloin Housing Clinic have used the Project’s outputs in legal actions, ballot campaigns, and zoning debates. The Project’s empirical work continues to inform cross-disciplinary conversations among urbanists, planners, lawyers, and activists linked to institutions such as International City/County Management Association, American Planning Association, and Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.

Category:Housing organizations