Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík
Urban studies have predominantly analysed the impact of short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb on cities through the lens of gentrification. However, the concept of gentrification has been applied to this platform-based urban change without considering how platform economy might alter the way sc...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0308518x221094616 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0308518X221094616 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0308518X221094616 |
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crsagepubl:10.1177/0308518x221094616 2024-09-09T20:05:16+00:00 Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík Mermet, Anne-Cécile Íbúðalánasjóður Ferðamálastofa 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0308518x221094616 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0308518X221094616 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0308518X221094616 en eng SAGE Publications http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space volume 54, issue 6, page 1147-1164 ISSN 0308-518X 1472-3409 journal-article 2022 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x221094616 2024-08-12T04:33:05Z Urban studies have predominantly analysed the impact of short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb on cities through the lens of gentrification. However, the concept of gentrification has been applied to this platform-based urban change without considering how platform economy might alter the way scholars think about gentrification. First, this paper shows that short-term rental platforms build on the increasing use of housing by ordinary people to generate income. Second, it explores what this entails for gentrification studies. Contrary to the classical pattern of gentrification, suppliers of short-term rental platforms are not necessarily external investors but may be local homeowners in an area that is appealing to tourists. This puts local homeowners in an ambiguous position regarding gentrification patterns. On the one hand, as stakeholders providing the accommodation supply, they can theoretically benefit from short-term rental platforms by generating income from their housing. On the other hand, as long-term inhabitants, their housing trajectory can also be disrupted by the consequences of Airbnb-driven gentrification that they enable. This paper aims to disentangle the role of local homeowners in Airbnb-driven gentrification by answering the three following questions. (1) Who are the Airbnb hosts? Are they external newcomers or local homeowners? (2) Which host strategies lead to the displacement of long-term inhabitants? (3) What lines of inquiry does the ambiguous position of local hosts (as both driver and victim of Airbnbfication) open for gentrification studies? Article in Journal/Newspaper Reykjavík Reykjavík SAGE Publications Reykjavík Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 54 6 1147 1164 |
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Urban studies have predominantly analysed the impact of short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb on cities through the lens of gentrification. However, the concept of gentrification has been applied to this platform-based urban change without considering how platform economy might alter the way scholars think about gentrification. First, this paper shows that short-term rental platforms build on the increasing use of housing by ordinary people to generate income. Second, it explores what this entails for gentrification studies. Contrary to the classical pattern of gentrification, suppliers of short-term rental platforms are not necessarily external investors but may be local homeowners in an area that is appealing to tourists. This puts local homeowners in an ambiguous position regarding gentrification patterns. On the one hand, as stakeholders providing the accommodation supply, they can theoretically benefit from short-term rental platforms by generating income from their housing. On the other hand, as long-term inhabitants, their housing trajectory can also be disrupted by the consequences of Airbnb-driven gentrification that they enable. This paper aims to disentangle the role of local homeowners in Airbnb-driven gentrification by answering the three following questions. (1) Who are the Airbnb hosts? Are they external newcomers or local homeowners? (2) Which host strategies lead to the displacement of long-term inhabitants? (3) What lines of inquiry does the ambiguous position of local hosts (as both driver and victim of Airbnbfication) open for gentrification studies? |
author2 |
Íbúðalánasjóður Ferðamálastofa |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Mermet, Anne-Cécile |
spellingShingle |
Mermet, Anne-Cécile Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík |
author_facet |
Mermet, Anne-Cécile |
author_sort |
Mermet, Anne-Cécile |
title |
Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík |
title_short |
Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík |
title_full |
Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík |
title_fullStr |
Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík |
title_full_unstemmed |
Can gentrification theory learn from Airbnb? Airbnbfication and the asset economy in Reykjavík |
title_sort |
can gentrification theory learn from airbnb? airbnbfication and the asset economy in reykjavík |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0308518x221094616 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0308518X221094616 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1177/0308518X221094616 |
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Reykjavík |
geographic_facet |
Reykjavík |
genre |
Reykjavík Reykjavík |
genre_facet |
Reykjavík Reykjavík |
op_source |
Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space volume 54, issue 6, page 1147-1164 ISSN 0308-518X 1472-3409 |
op_rights |
http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518x221094616 |
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Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space |
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54 |
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6 |
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1147 |
op_container_end_page |
1164 |
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1809937587982303232 |