Gentrification of Neighborhoods in New York City after Hurricane Sandy

While natural disasters impact on people regardless their economic capacity, vulnerable people are affected more than others. By exacerbating housing market problems, housing recovery after the natural disaster events reveals the inequality issue in post-disaster planning. Cue to the failure of the institution, victims from disasters experience both the inflation of housing market stemming from the gentrification after the disaster and the depreciation of property value from risks of future disasters. The study examines the property value changes of three boroughs, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island using Inverse Distance Weight Interpolation method. Thereafter, by using geographically weighted regression (GWR) model, the research finds out the impact of the Sandy on housing market dynamics in New York City; the impact of Sandy is relying on the location and the situation of both individual property and neighborhoods, especially the proximity and the accessibility to the urban core such as Manhattan and New Jersey. The purpose of the study is to provide the insight for planners and policy makers with the clue to device a reasonable and efficient housing recovery plan by examining the correlation between housing market change and disaster issue.