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‘People as businesses’: Airbnb and urban micro-entrepreneurialism in New York City

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  • Filip Stabrowski

Abstract

Drawing upon Henri Lefebvre’s notion of the production of space and Michael Callon’s work on performativity in economics, this article examines the material and discursive practices through which the internet ‘home-sharing’ platform Airbnb has produced new social relations of domestic property. Through a critical examination of the discourses and practices of Airbnb in the popular media, courts of law and public hearings, I argue that internet-based platforms such as Airbnb represent a fundamental reworking of social relations of property based on radically new socio-material assemblages. These assemblages—which have served to further commoditise housing by constructing a new market in short-term rentals—have entailed the disruption of not just the hospitality sector, but of the socio-spatial relations of urban housing. As emerging spaces of domestic entrepreneurialism, short-term rentals have generated their own forms of localised opposition. With the spread of Airbnb transforming the lived spaces of housing across New York City, a discursive struggle has ensued over the meanings of this new form of domestic property. In the popular press, courts of law and the chambers and steps of city halls, the stakes have been nothing less than the means and ends of urban governance itself.

Suggested Citation

  • Filip Stabrowski, 2017. "‘People as businesses’: Airbnb and urban micro-entrepreneurialism in New York City," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 10(2), pages 327-347.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:cjrecs:v:10:y:2017:i:2:p:327-347.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cjres/rsx004
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Piotr Zmyślony & Grzegorz Leszczyński & Anna Waligóra & Wiesław Alejziak, 2020. "The Sharing Economy and Sustainability of Urban Destinations in the (Over)tourism Context: The Social Capital Theory Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-26, March.
    2. Nicola Camatti & Giacomo Tollo & Gianni Filograsso & Sara Ghilardi, 2024. "Predicting Airbnb pricing: a comparative analysis of artificial intelligence and traditional approaches," Computational Management Science, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-25, June.
    3. Dolnicar, Sara, 2019. "A review of research into paid online peer-to-peer accommodation," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 248-264.
    4. Xuefeng Shao & Shi Chen, 2024. "Research on Tax Compliance Incentive Effects of Platform Companies from the Perspective of Incomplete Contract – An Empirical Study Based on China," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 26(65), pages 330-330, February.
    5. Farmaki, Anna & Christou, Prokopis & Saveriades, Alexis, 2020. "A Lefebvrian analysis of Airbnb space," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Časni Anita Čeh & Filić Josipa, 2022. "Tourism housing price nexus," Croatian Review of Economic, Business and Social Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 53-65, December.
    7. Sally Zhu, 2020. "Sharing Property Sharing Labour: The Co-Production of Value in Platform Economies," Laws, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-17, October.
    8. Shijie Sun & Shengyue Zhang & Xingjian Wang, 2021. "Characteristics and influencing factors of Airbnb spatial distribution in China’s rapid urbanization process: A case study of Nanjing," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-19, March.
    9. Petit, Gillian & Cameron, Anna & Khanal, Mukesh & Tedds, Lindsay M., 2022. "A Comparative Analysis of Short-Term Rental Regulations in Six Alberta Municipalities," MPRA Paper 112671, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Airbnb; assemblage; domestic property; micro-entrepreneurialism; New York City;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K - Law and Economics
    • O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth
    • R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics

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