Finding vulnerable housing in street view images: using AI to create safer cities

People living in neighborhoods with poor building standards are more likely to be killed by a disaster. Their homes, too often built in a cheap or makeshift manner, are susceptible to dangerous events like earthquakes, hurricanes, and landslides. These (typically poor) inhabitants make up a disproportionate number of the 1,300,000 lives taken by disasters in the last 25 years. Families move into poor urban communities seeking better jobs and opportunities but don't possess the money or technical knowledge to access safe, resilient housing. Governments and communities strive to retrofit these structures for safety -- usually a simple, cheap, and effective process -- but dangerous housing remains a dilemma.