Baltimore City uses aerial imagery to identify vacant properties and roof damage, using interns and AI. 17% of AI list not vacant, data shared with Fire Dept. for safety.
The Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) in Baltimore City is using artificial intelligence to identify roof damage and vacant properties. This initiative began in 2018 when the department put their student interns to work to survey denser areas with high vacancy. The roof is the Achilles heel of the Baltimore row home and the AI program is helping the DHCD identify roof damage from an aerial perspective. The program has identified a building that should have had a Vacant Building Notice attached to it and has prompted the City to tear down four more. DHCD is also sharing this data with the Fire Department to make it safer for firefighters.
The AI program is also helping the City identify any potential vacant properties they didn’t know about, look for emergencies to protect the public, and prioritize where they invest money in stabilizing vacant buildings. Alice Kennedy, the Housing Commissioner for Baltimore City, says they started working with Carnegie Mellon on this next iteration before the Stricker Street fire. This tragedy only reaffirmed the reason why they know this is an extremely useful and helpful tool.
DHCD is about a third of the way through a list of 1,000 properties with the worst rooftop damage. So far, the AI program has identified a building that should have had a Vacant Building Noticed attached to it and has prompted the City to tear down four more. The program can be trained to improve and the biggest misses were buildings that actually didn’t exist, but previously it existed.
DHCD is also working with the Fire Department to improve data sharing between them and the Mayor’s Office. This data is also helping the City identify any potential vacant properties they didn’t know about, look for emergencies to protect the public, and prioritize where they invest money in stabilizing vacant buildings. The AI program is helping to make Baltimore safer and DHCD will continue to work with the data and teach the AI program to recognize roof damage.
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