The Airbnb effect: architecture and urban consequences of a new way of trading homes

This Master thesis explores the socio-spatial impact of the short-term rental platform Airbnb in a central neighbourhood of Madrid. The rapid rise of Airbnb has expanded the use of residential apartments as transient hotel rooms, by activating an intense debate in Madrid and in other cities about the possible benefits and drawbacks of such new phenomenon. Opinions are diverse, some argue that the platform can be a catalyst for cities economy, while critics see it as a threat to housing affordability and local communities. Although a large number of researches have been conducted in order to better understand the phenomenon from an economic or sociological point of view, regarding the urban and architectural impact, the field of study is still weak and open to new contributions. From a cognitive perspective, the first part combines an accurate study of the Airbnb keys to success with the discussion of the key topics debated within the existing scientific literature, revealing that Airbnb can shift the balance within the economic, social and urban sphere without any physical action. By doing so, Airbnb actually enters the debate on tourism gentrification. In this context the thesis aims to investigate the Airbnb Effect through a multiscalar analysis of Madrid, going from the urban to the domestic scale. Through a quantitative analysis of the Airbnb data of Madrid, a number of key findings are outlined in order to allow a rather complete description of the phenomenon. Based on the results obtained, the analysis scale is restricted to the Lavapiés neighbourhood. After a historical study of the neighbourhood’s urban fabric, as well as an approximation to its complex multicultural legacy, the socio-spatial consequences of the presence of Airbnb will emerge. The impact is also measured at the building scale and further to that of the apartment. To do this, a traditional collective housing typology called Corrala has been chosen, while for what concerns the domestic scale, a series of representative case studies have been selected. The data findings show that Madrid has seen a strong increase in Airbnb listings in 2018, with a greater concentration in the inner city and especially in Lavapiés, where the largest number of listings are located. Multi-listing owners play a key role in Madrid's Airbnb market by controlling almost half of the supply, despite being a small minority. This is easily identifiable even in the greater distribution of entire apartments compared to private rooms. Lastly, the potential profitability of an Airbnb apartment, depending on its surface, can also be up to three times greater than that obtained from the traditional rent. These results reflect the protests of the inhabitants of Lavapiés against real estate speculation, outlining a context in which conflict is mixed with the new patterns of tourist consumption of space dictated by Airbnb. In addition, the impact of Airbnb at the building scale generates a further socio-spatial contrast. However, the apartments objects of the study show that on one hand, the sharing of the home persists, changing the way of inhabiting; on the other hand, in most cases, the home is specialized for tourism. In conclusion, a vision of contemporary inhabiting, adaptable to Airbnb and to the segmentation of contemporary life practices is proposed.