Livin’ on the edge: The peripheral host and the production of a digital tourism space beyond the city center

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the physical limits but paradoxically symbolic expansion of the Airbnb model beyond the the touristified historical center of Madrid. We move to the margins of the city and analyzed every host ad and guest comment in the Villaverde district, characterized as a former industrial working-class neighborhood also welcoming various waves of immigrants. Our results reveal a novel figure in the platform model, which we have characterized as the “peripheral host,” who attempts to participate in this business model based on two strategies: first, by constructing an imaginary “digital tourism space” that inserts the periphery into the tourist city; and second, by “platforming host practices” through the provision of a “personalized guest experience” and on-demand tasks. In our study, we propose an explanatory model that sheds light on the ways in which platform urbanism is transforming work, culture and urban society beyond city center.

KEYWORDS:

• Airbnb
• peripheral host
• touristification
• platform urbanism
• digital city

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. http://portalestadistico.com/municipioencifras/?pn=madrid&pc=ZTV21 (last accessed on 10/27/2021).

2. https://datos.madrid.es/sites/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=bffff1d2a9fdb410VgnVCM2000000c205a0aRCRD&vgnextchannel=20d612b9ace9f310VgnVCM100000171f5a0aRCRD.

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain [RTI2018-093479-A-I00].

Notes on contributors

Pablo Martínez

Pablo Martínez is a PhD candidate in sociology and member of Critical Urban Studies Research Group (GECU) at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. He is social researcher in in the “LIKEALOCAL (RTI2018-093479-A-I00; 2019–2022) and “ONDEMANDCITY” (PID2021-122482OB-I00) projects.

Jorge Sequera

Jorge Sequera is a lecturer at the Department of Sociology III and director of Critical Urban Studies Research Group (GECU) at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. He is the principal investigator of the research project “Likealocal: Sociospatial effects of Airbnb. Tourism and transformation in 4 Spanish cities” (RTI2018-093479-A-I00; 2019–2022) and “ONDEMANDCITY: Platform capitalism, digital workers and techification of everyday life in contemporary city” (PID2021-122482OB-I00; 2022-2025).

Javier Gil

Javier Gil is a researcher at the Department of Sociology II: Social Structure and member of Critical Urban Studies Research Group (GECU) at Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia. He leads the project “Generation Rent: Socio-economic and political impacts of the changes in the housing system in Spain after the 2008 crisis” (funded by the Ministry of Universities and the European Union-NextGenerationUE).