As an issue group, we came up with words that were in any way related to the issue of housing affordability. Many words I would not have thought of myself so it was insightful to have the group brainstorm as a whole.
From these words, I mapped the human and non-human stakeholders at play as well as categorising each of the stakeholders under more specific headings.
Ten Images
This image depicts the futility of Gen Y owning their own home. Baby boomers own the biggest block of land, followed by Gen X in a small rundown house and then Gen Y living in a pitched tent. This is in reference to wealth flowing to older generations as the housing market skyrockets and the original price a house is bought for is significantly lower than what it could be sold for.
Inkcinct Cartoons, (2007). Housing Affordability. [image] Available at: http://www.inkcinct.com.au/web-pages/cartoons/past/2007/2007-434-housing-affordability.jpg
This image shows the link between homelessness and housing affordability. A man is residing on a bark bench, clearly homeless as he has bag under him, reading the newspaper. On the newspaper, the headline is about housing affordability being at a new low which is ironic because the man is sleeping outside without a home.
Inkcinct Cartoons, (2008). Reading about Housing Affordability. [image] Available at: http://www.inkcinct.com.au/web-pages/cartoons/past/2007/2007-434-housing-affordability.jpg
An interesting concept is the mock image created by Baca Architects. It depicts a living space floating on water and is shown to be a possible solution to the lack of land available to build new homes. As Australia is mostly surrounded by water, why not utilise the water ways as a space where new homes could be made?
Floating Homes Ltd, Baca Architects, (n.d.). Floating Homes. [image] Available at: https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2016-07/28/10/enhanced/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane01/grid-cell-11491-1469715865-9.jpg
The image shows a snapshot into a man’s living space and home. The house is small as it only seems to be one room big. Each ‘brick’ of the house is represented by a dollar sign which suggests that in the housing market, something as small as a brick that makes up a house is worth a lot just because it is part of the house. It shows the ridiculousness of the pricing in the housing market.
Shakespeare, J. (n.d). [image] Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/4/p/i/6/image.related.articleLeadwide.620×349.gqd42f.png/1469521274403.jpg
This is a satirical image of the housing market in Australia when Joe Hockey said in response to the housing affordability crisis to “get a good job”. It is representation of the wealthy but greedy home owners who ‘monopolize’ the market with negative gearing, not giving others a chance to own a home.
Mountain, (2015). Negative Gearing. [image] Available at: https://thisisaustraliatoday.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/hockey-gearing.png
This image also shows the futility of young people owning a home. While older generations buy cheaper homes with negative gearing in mind, young people are forced to believe that the idea of owing a home is ‘negative’. What is also interesting is the sign used to advertise the house ‘ideal home for young couple’. It is ironic because the couple who ended up buying the home is an older more established couple.
Tandberg, (n.d.). Negative Gearing. [image] Available at: http://blogs.smh.com.au/lifestyle/renovationnation/rontandberg1.jpg
This simple image is a statement on foreign investors and buyers buying up Sydney properties. The overlay of the Chinese flag on iconic Sydney structures indicates that the artist believes China is buying up most of these properties. This is also an indication of the artist’s viewpoint on the housing affordability crisis, as it seems they blame foreign buyers.
PropertyObserver, (n.d.). Sydney Skyline China. [image] Available at: http://www.propertyobserver.com.au/images/stories/flexicontent/l_sydney-skyline-china-4-breakout.jpg
