Abstract
In view of the proliferation of alojamento local (short-term vacation rentals) in the major Portuguese cities of Lisbon and Porto, along with the recent transformation of the historic city centre neighbourhoods, this study explores the mediatized politics of place by analysing data sets resulting from different, but interconnected, discursive practices. At the level of governance, we examine how legislation has enabled and facilitated this transformation. We then explore the media coverage of the issues surrounding these recent changes. Finally, we focus on individual and collective stakeholder voices by analysing the various rights claims and arguments found in social media communication channels. Framing our analysis initially in Lefebvre’s concept of ‘the right to the city’, often invoked as an argument for the promotion of justice, inclusion and sustainability in the face of urbanisation policies, we argue that a ‘rights in the city’ approach is better suited to gaining insight into the multiple tensions and conflicts brought about through the interlinking processes of regeneration, gentrification and touristification that affect neighbourhoods with high proportions of short-term rental accommodation, and conclude that there are many rights claimants within a seemingly unified group of stakeholders, invoking rights claims which are sometimes overlapping, but often conflicting.
Highlights
Short-term urban vacation rentals have witnessed staggering levels of growth in major cities around the world in recent years
In view of the proliferation of alojamento local in the major Portuguese cities of Lisbon and Porto, along with the recent transformation of the historic city centre neighbourhoods, this study explores the mediatized politics of place by analysing data sets resulting from different, but interconnected, discursive practices
The spread of Airbnb-type accommodation becomes entangled in the politics of place, in which different social actors seek to establish their own ‘place frame’ - or social construction of space - in order to assert and legitimise their own interests and rights claims, or to dismantle and delegitimize the claims of others. With this context in mind, our study explores the politics of place from a discursive perspective, at distinct but interconnected levels, by analysing data from different mediated, public discursive practices
Summary
Short-term urban vacation rentals have witnessed staggering levels of growth in major cities around the world in recent years. Whilst the demand for and expansion of this type of tourist accommodation in cities is leading to the revitalisation of certain urban areas, it is clear that there is a direct association in many urban neighbourhoods between an excessive supply of short-term vacation rentals and processes of tourism-driven gentrification, as well as leading to situations of ‘overtourism’ (Gonzalez-Perez, 2020; Ioannides et al, 2019; Peeters et al, 2018) This puts into question both the sustainability of residential zones in city centres and the future sustainability of tourism in urban spaces, until recently generally considered as one of the more ‘sustainable’ economic growth strategies for cities (Koens et al, 2018). These neighbourhoods are the focus of increasing ‘touristification’, driven in large part by the “Airbnb-ization” which is “allowing the cobbled streets [of Lisbon] ( ... ) to become a Disneyland for Creative tourists” (Muzergues, 2020, p. 22)
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