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.