CityScope Module: Kendall Life-Work Crescendo

Info                  Patrick Chwalek (PhD), Yuxin Yang, Yoonjae Oh, Mirah Xu, 09-12/2021, Academy
                         My contributions include proposal, analysis and scenarios, and data collection with the team
Instructor       Kent Larson, kll@media.mit.edu
                         Luis Alonso, alonsolp@media.mit.edu
Institution      MIT Media Lab, City Science Group

This is an ESG assessment tool using Python and ArcGIS on analyzing office-to- housing and office-to-green space conversion for MIT Kendall Square, serving as a development module for an open-source engagement platform CityScope.

The past year's remote working experience, whether hybrid or fully remote, poses many design problems for existing office space culture. According to the Microsoft Work Index, 66% of leaders answered that their company are considering redesigning their office spaces for hybrid work. Global office leasing volumes in the last two years have dropped by half, and the US office vacancy rate (27%) has doubled from the previous year. According to the JLL Boston office insight report, total vacancy and average asking rent in Boston are rising. The projected office vacancy rate is 16.8%, 5% higher than the current rate.

In response to these issues, our project explores the possibility of office building conversions in the scope of Kendall Square. Our interactive statistical tool assists decision-makers in rethinking existing office buildings in Kendall and transforming them into spaces in need. Our tool guides users to understand three perspectives based on the rate of office transition:

Environmental: How much can we reduce building and transportation GHG EMISSIONS?
Financial: Is annual residential rent showing more FINANCIAL IMPROVEMENT than annual office rent?
Wellness: Can we have more urban green space for INCREASED WELL-BEING?

Today, it is clear that the lack of housing stocks in Kendall Square has a severe adverse impact on housing affordability. By analyzing OFFICE-TO-HOUSING, OFFICE-TO-GREENSPACE conversions, our vision is to gradually evolve Kendall into a more livable place where people can have better work-life symmetry.