Residents of one Massachusetts city can now use an interactive dashboard to track nearly 250 housing developments as officials pursue a 2030 target of 12,500 homes.
Here's what to know
For those in Cambridge, the dashboard, launched this month, gives the public a new way to gauge whether broad zoning changes are turning into actual housing on the ground.
Smart Cities Dive reported that the tool pulls together information from several city departments and records projects that either add or remove residential units.
Users can see everything from pre-permitted proposals to construction underway and homes finished since Jan. 1, 2025, instead of viewing only completed buildings.
Smart Cities explained that the rollout of the dashboard followed the Cambridge City Council's February 2025 approval of a multifamily housing zoning ordinance that, for the first time, put all residential areas under a single zoning code.
In a city news release announcing the tracking tool on Oct. 20, officials said the reforms have drawn "significant public interest." Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui said the policy's passage marked the start of the process, not the end.
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"Passing a policy is only the beginning. We have a responsibility to closely monitor how change unfolds, and to communicate openly with residents who are living with those changes in their neighborhoods every day," Siddiqui said in the release.
More background
The city adopted its current housing target in 2018, setting a goal of 12,500 units by 2030. By 2025, Cambridge had produced a little over 3,100, or roughly one-quarter of that total.
With the tracker, residents no longer have to piece together updates from separate departments to learn whether a nearby development is still in the early stages, already permitted, or under construction.
City Manager Yi-An Huang said the dashboard was created after residents asked for easier-to-follow, more comprehensive information.
"Residents have told us they want clear, reliable information about how housing is changing in Cambridge," Huang said in a release cited by Smart Cities Dive.
In September, the Cambridge Somerville Independent reported that the city is facing two lawsuits over its inclusionary zoning rules, which require at least 20% of the floor area in large new residential developments to qualify as affordable housing.
Where can I learn more?
For more on related housing pressures and policy changes, these stories provide more context:
• Across Massachusetts, officials are 15.6% toward a 222,000-home goal as reform debates intensify.
• In Boston, City Hall may pick up developers' infrastructure tab to revive stalled housing projects.
• Greater Boston builders say affordable-unit rules stall housing even as officials refuse changes.
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