From residential to tourist function in urban spaces: measurement of causal factors using digital tools

Abstract

The main objective of the article is to demonstrate through quantitative data the mechanisms that operate in the transformation of the housing market as a consequence of the touristification of urban destinations. The specific objectives are to design and apply indicators, based on digital tools, intended to show the relationship between tourist rental housing (T.R.H.) and the rest of the housing stock; to establish the differences in income generated for owners between offering rental housing to tourist or residential demand; determine, on an intra-urban scale, the vulnerability that the phenomenon generates for access to housing for the resident population; evaluate the effect of the phenomenon on the displacement of residents from urban centres to other areas of the city. The historical centres of Seville, Cordoba and Granada, which account for the majority of urban tourism in Andalusia, are selected as case studies. Their data are obtained mainly by means of web scraping techniques, applied to the main on-line T.R.H. platforms. The main result is the quantification of the income difference, which is favourable to tourist rentals in all cases, and the identification of sections of the city where the phenomenon represents a greater impact for the vulnerable population.