[Séminaire d'axe] The Three Worlds of Short-term Rental Regulation in European Cities: Making sense and explaining the diversity of STR regulatory regimes in 12 large cities / 10 countries

Fifteen years after the birth of Airbnb in 2008, many of the world’s cities -  particularly European cities - have experienced conflicts around platform-mediated short-term accommodation and have voted measures to regulate this market. In some cities, regulations aim at supporting the market; in others, at curbing the phenomenon, but with different approaches, instruments and intensity. Based on a mixed method, multi-level comparative research in 12 large European cities (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Brussels, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Prague, Vienna) located in 10 countries, the paper shows to which extent and explain why strikingly different regulatory regimes have emerged around short-term rentals. First, we have built an index of regulatory intensity (IRI) that helps to objectify this diversity. Then, drawing on the comparative political economy of the varieties of (national and local) capitalisms and the sociology of public policies, we propose an original ideal-typical typology of touristic cities regulating STR that helps to make sense of this diversity by combining institutional (welfare states, welfare/housing systems, multi-level governance), socio-economic (tourism pressures and attractiveness) and political explanatory strands (political agendas, platforms mobilizations, property interests, grassroots movements). Doing this, we highlight the institutionalization of “three worlds” shaped by the adjustment – in different institutional frames - between governments and platforms operators at local, national and European scales. Finally, through a case-oriented perspective, we explain the causal mechanisms that lead to the different regulatory regimes by focusing on three ideal-typical cases (Barcelona, Paris, Milan). 

Speakers 

Thomas Aguilera, Sciences Po Rennes, ARENES

Thomas Aguilera is Assistant Professor of political science at Sciences Po Rennes and vice-director of the research center Arènes UMR 6051. His research interests include public policies, territorial politics and governance, social movements, comparison and mixed methods.

Francesca Artioli, University Paris-Est Créteil, École d’Urbanisme de Paris, Lab’Urba

Francesca Artioli holds a PhD in political science from Sciences Po and is Assistant Professor in Spatial Planning at the Université Paris-Est Créteil. Her works deals with urban and metropolitan politics and governance, and the political economy of land property and housing. 

Chair 

Cyril Benoît, Sciences Po, CEE, CNRS