Sustainable governance versus airbnbification. The case of Barcelona

Abstract

Popular tourist destinations face major governance challenges if their goal is to balance and reconcile the interests of different stakeholders, including companies, residents and tourists. Since Barcelona hosted the Olympic Games in 1992, the flow of tourists has not slowed down and, as a result, the number of accommodation places has grown steadily. Even the owners of residential properties have started offering their homes to visitors, a phenomenon that has led to a dramatic rise in the number of beds available for tourists in the city. The aim of this article was to analyse the way in which this accommodation category has grown with a view to reflecting on the most appropriate form of spatial distribution evenly throughout the city. The study used secondary data from Barcelona City Council’s records on tourist dwellings and data from Inside Airbnb on properties advertised through Airbnb. All processed data were used to create a weighted matrix based on objectives such as creating a fair economy or attracting everyday tourists. The research concludes with a new proposal of spatial distribution of tourist dwellings throughout the city based on the 15-minute city approach.