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What’s in a name? Place misrepresentation and neighbourhood stigma in the online rental market

Author

Listed:
  • Ariela Schachter

    (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)

  • John Kuk

    (University of Oklahoma, USA)

  • Max Besbris

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)

  • Lydia Ho

    (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)

Abstract

In this article we examine how the online rental housing market reflects the desirability of different neighbourhoods in St. Louis, MO, a metropolitan area with long-standing high levels of Black–White residential segregation. Using a large digital corpus of advertisements for rental housing, we first show that adverts in neighbourhoods with more Black residents are less likely to list a neighbourhood name than adverts for available housing units in neighbourhoods with more White residents. Advertisements for housing in neighbourhoods with more Black residents are also more likely to list a different, higher-income neighbourhood name than the one in which they are located. Next, using a survey of St. Louis residents, we find that neighbourhoods with more Black residents are perceived as less desirable by both White and Black St. Louisans. We then employ a pair of survey experiments and find that interest in renting a particular housing unit changes if the advert does not list a neighbourhood name or uses a different neighbourhood name than one commonly associated with its location. Altogether, our findings reveal that postings in online housing markets reflect and reproduce existing racial-spatial patterns and may contribute to the avoidance/stigmatisation of certain neighbourhoods.

Suggested Citation

  • Ariela Schachter & John Kuk & Max Besbris & Lydia Ho, 2024. "What’s in a name? Place misrepresentation and neighbourhood stigma in the online rental market," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(16), pages 3050-3068, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:16:p:3050-3068
    DOI: 10.1177/00420980231198147
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jennifer Candipan & Nolan Edward Phillips & Robert J Sampson & Mario Small, 2021. "From residence to movement: The nature of racial segregation in everyday urban mobility," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(15), pages 3095-3117, November.
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    3. Boeing, Geoff & Besbris, Max & Wachsmuth, David & Wegmann, Jake, 2021. "Tilted Platforms: Rental Housing Technology and the Rise of Urban Big Data Oligopolies," SocArXiv 8jrfe, Center for Open Science.
    4. Galster, George C., 2019. "Making Our Neighborhoods, Making Our Selves," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226599854, June.
    5. Chris Hess & Arthur Acolin & Rebecca Walter & Ian Kennedy & Sarah Chasins & Kyle Crowder, 2021. "Searching for housing in the digital age: Neighborhood representation on internet rental housing platforms across space, platform, and metropolitan segregation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(8), pages 2012-2032, November.
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    1. George C Galster & Jan Ãœblacker, 2024. "Digitalisation, neighbourhood change and urban social processes: Conceptual framework and introduction to the Special Issue," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(16), pages 3015-3027, December.

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