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Housing Search in the Age of Big Data: Smarter Cities or the Same Old Blind Spots?

Author

Listed:
  • Geoff Boeing
  • Max Besbris
  • Ariela Schachter
  • John Kuk

Abstract

Housing scholars stress the importance of the information environment in shaping housing search behavior and outcomes. Rental listings have increasingly moved online over the past two decades and, in turn, online platforms like Craigslist are now central to the search process. Do these technology platforms serve as information equalizers or do they reflect traditional information inequalities that correlate with neighborhood sociodemographics? We synthesize and extend analyses of millions of U.S. Craigslist rental listings and find they supply significantly different volumes, quality, and types of information in different communities. Technology platforms have the potential to broaden, diversify, and equalize housing search information, but they rely on landlord behavior and, in turn, likely will not reach this potential without a significant redesign or policy intervention. Smart city advocates hoping to build better cities through technology must critically interrogate technology platforms and big data for systematic biases.

Suggested Citation

  • Geoff Boeing & Max Besbris & Ariela Schachter & John Kuk, 2021. "Housing Search in the Age of Big Data: Smarter Cities or the Same Old Blind Spots?," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 112-126, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:houspd:v:31:y:2021:i:1:p:112-126
    DOI: 10.1080/10511482.2019.1684336
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    Cited by:

    1. Boeing, Geoff & Harten, Julia & Sanchez-Moyano, Rocio, 2023. "Digitalization of the Housing Search: Homeseekers, Gatekeepers, and Market Legibility," SocArXiv 643x2, Center for Open Science.
    2. Jared N Schachner & Ann Owens & Gary D Painter, 2024. "The implications of digital school quality information for neighbourhood and school segregation: Evidence from a natural experiment in Los Angeles," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(16), pages 3145-3166, December.
    3. George C Galster & Jan Ãœblacker, 2024. "Digitalisation, neighbourhood change and urban social processes: Conceptual framework and introduction to the Special Issue," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(16), pages 3015-3027, December.
    4. Julia Gabriele Harten & Geoff Boeing, 2024. "Access to the exclusive city: Home sharing as an affordable housing strategy," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(16), pages 3069-3085, December.
    5. Geoff Boeing & Jake Wegmann & Junfeng Jiao, 2020. "Rental Housing Spot Markets: How Online Information Exchanges Can Supplement Transacted-Rents Data," Papers 2002.01578, arXiv.org.
    6. Adu, Providence & Delmelle, Elizabeth C., 2022. "Spatial Variations in Exclusionary Criteria from Online Rental Advertisements," SocArXiv 8g4sv, Center for Open Science.
    7. repec:osf:socarx:643x2_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Liton (Md) Kamruzzaman & Sanaz Nikfalazar & Fuad Yasin Huda & Dharmalingam Arunachalam & Dickson Lukose, 2025. "Data Typologies in Urban Housing Research: A Systematic Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-25, May.
    9. Behr,Daniela Monika & Chen,Lixue & Goel,Ankita & Haider,Khondoker Tanveer & Sandeep Singh & Zaman,Asad, 2023. "Estimating House Prices in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies : A Big Data Approach," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10301, The World Bank.
    10. Sha, Kritika & Taeihagh, Araz & De Jong, Martin, 2024. "Governing disruptive technologies for inclusive development in cities: A systematic literature review," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    11. George C Galster, 2024. "How digitalisation influences neighbourhood change," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(16), pages 3028-3049, December.
    12. Fan, Ying & Fu, Yuqi & Yang, Zan & Chen, Ming, 2024. "Search frictions in rental markets: Evidence from urban China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    13. Fan, Ying & Fu, Yuqi & Yang, Zan & Chen, Ming, 2023. "Search Frictions in Rental Markets: Evidence from Urban China," Working Paper Series 23/11, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.

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