On the 2nd and 3rd of September 2024 a group of academics, practitioners and activists gathered at Maynooth University for a two-day workshop to examine the data politics shaping and underpinning housing and planning. With material drawing from case studies on Ireland, Australia, the US, UK, Kenya, South Africa and the Netherlands, the presentations featured a variety of regional perspectives.
Professor Rob Kitchin opened the workshop with an introduction to the Data Stories project. He discussed key points of data politics, and key ‘data debates’ relating to housing, planning His opening was followed by five themed sessions: 1) Property information; 2) Planning; 3) Financialisation, platforms, residential/commercial real estate; 4) Renting, landlords, evictions, vacancy; and 5) Data activism and counter-data activism. We concluded the workshop with a panel discussion summarising overarching issues/themes of the workshop.
To read more about the event or the datastories project see here; https://datastories.maynoothuniversity.ie/?page_id=33