Residents’ Support for P2P Accommodation in Deprived Urban Areas: Evidence from the UK

Abstract

This study examines residents' support for peer-to-peer accommodation in Sunderland, UK, representing a deprived, post-industrial context largely overlooked in existing research focused on major tourism centres. Drawing on complexity theory, survey data from 385 residents were analysed using fsQCA and NCA to explore how five conditions (support for tourism, political empowerment, perceived need for P2P accommodation regulation, and perceived positive and negative impacts of P2P accommodation) combine to shape support for P2P accommodation. Three sufficient configurations identified: (1) conditional support under regulatory assurance, (2) perceptual impact equilibrium, and (3) governance-empowerment nexus. The findings show that residents' support emerges from interdependent conditions and underscore the importance of regulation, political empowerment, and balanced perceptions of impacts in shaping acceptance. The study contributes theoretically by demonstrating the value of a configurational approach to understanding residents' perceptions and offers practical insights for participatory and accountable governance of P2P accommodation in deprived urban contexts.