Abstract
This article explores the relationship between the spatial concentration of short-term rentals in Lisbon’s historic center and the phenomena of uneven development and tourism gentrification. By providing quantitative and qualitative evidence of the uneven geographic distribution of tourist apartments within the municipality of Lisbon, it contributes to the study of the new processes of neoliberal urbanization in the crisis-ridden countries of Southern Europe. It argues that the great share of whole-home rentals and the expansion of the short-term rental market over the housing stock are symptoms of the commodification of housing in the neoliberal city. Due to the loss of consumption capacity by the Portuguese society amid crisis and austerity, real estate developers target external markets and local households must compete for access to a limited housing stock with tourists and other temporary city users. The subsequent global rent gap stimulates the proliferation of vacation rentals at the expense of the supply of residential housing, fueling property prices and jeopardizing housing affordability. With Portugal being a peripheral member of the EU and the Eurozone, the vulnerability of local households to the impacts of tourism gentrification is aggravated by the remarkable income gap with their counterparts of the core.
Highlights
After the 1970s energy crisis, the decline of manufacturing in advanced capitalist countries was paralleled by the expansion of the service sector and—especially in Southern Europe—by an increasing reliance on tourism and real estate development as key strategies for economic growth.In a global context defined by the reduction of spatial barriers and the removal of capital controls, European regions and cities have been forced to compete with each other for increasingly mobile financial investment and consumption (Harvey 1989)
67.8% of the Airbnb listings are concentrated in only five civil parishes that represent 10.8% of the municipal area and experienced house price increases ranging from 28.5% to 78.8% between the first quarter of 2016 and the fourth quarter of 2017 (Inside Airbnb 2018; Instituto Nacional de Estatística 2018b, 2018c)
These results confirm the finding of Wachsmuth and Weisler (2018) about vacation rentals tending to concentrate in central urban areas and gentrifying or recently gentrified residential neighborhoods of special tourist interest
Summary
After the 1970s energy crisis, the decline of manufacturing in advanced capitalist countries was paralleled by the expansion of the service sector and—especially in Southern Europe—by an increasing reliance on tourism and real estate development as key strategies for economic growth. In a global context defined by the reduction of spatial barriers and the removal of capital controls, European regions and cities have been forced to compete with each other for increasingly mobile financial investment and consumption (Harvey 1989). Against this background of globalization and deindustrialization, urban marketing and city branding strategies have been implemented by local administrations across the political spectrum to foster local economic growth through real estate and tourism development.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
