Film on the Class Conflict over Housing Policy

Kenton Card
Urban Planning
UC Los Angeles

Los Angeles and Berlin both face crises of housing affordability, which has only worsened during COVID-19 despite their population’s increasing awareness of and participation in housing politics. This film features key representatives from the tenant movement and landlord associations in order to paint a public portrait representing the conflict over housing between 2008 and 2022. The statistical data I am gathering on campaign contributions, protests cycles, as well as newspaper reporting, policy documents, and social media posts all serve as visual material for the film. My social science research design combines insights from social movements analysis, housing studies, and urban planning. Yet, it is rare for scholar-activists to take up film and “elevate the critique” as a site of public discourse. It has always been a primary motivator of my research to contribute to broader social change with an urban humanities engagement with the public.