Who can afford an apartment in Zurich? We have analyzed every ad. by Neue Zürcher Zeitung

Zurich is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Who can still afford an apartment in this city? We spent months analyzing every apartment advertisement and built an interactive city in 3D.

For this project, we extracted all the advertisements from the three largest real estate portals in Switzerland over a period of three months. This data forms the building fabric for our virtual city. High-rise buildings made of colored blocks show where apartments have been advertised. The more expensive the apartment, the darker its color.

Through the article, we tell the story of a health professional who has trouble finding an apartment. The rent threshold can also be set by the reader and she can interact with the 3D city.

What the graphic shows: There are hardly any affordable apartments for low-income earners in Switzerland's largest city.