Platform economies and urban planning : Airbnb and regulated deregulation in London
Ferreri, Mara (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)
Sanyal, Romola (London School of Economics and Political Science)

Date:	2018
Abstract:	The 'sharing economy' has become a new buzzword in urban life as digital technology companies set up online platforms to link together people and un- or underutilised assets with those seeking to rent them for short periods of time. While cloaked under the rhetoric of 'sharing', the exchanges they foster are usually profit-driven. These economic activities are having profound impacts on urban environments as they disrupt traditional forms of hospitality, transport, service industry and housing. While critical debates have focused on the challenges that sharing economy activities bring to exist- ing labour and economic practices, it is necessary to acknowledge that they also have increasingly sig- nificant impacts on planning policy and urban governance. Using the case of Airbnb in London, this article looks at how these sharing or platform economy companies are involved in encouraging gov- ernments to change existing regulations, in this case by deregulating short-term letting. This has important implications for planning enforcement. We examine how the challenges around obtaining data to enforce new regulations are being addressed by local councils who struggle to balance corpo- rate interests with public good. Finally, we address proposals for using algorithms and big data as means of urban governance and argue that the schism between regulation and enforcement is open- ing up new digitally mediated spaces of informal practices in cities.
Grants:	European Commission 665919
Rights:	Tots els drets reservats.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Data ; Governance ; Housing ; Planning ; Sharing economy ; Technology/smart cities
Published in:	Urban Studies, Vol. 55 Núm. 15 (2018) , p. 3353, ISSN 1360-063X

DOI: 10.1177/0042098017751982

Postprint 17 p, 252.1 KB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Social and Legal Sciences > Instituto de Gobierno y Políticas Públicas (IGOP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles