Spatial analysis of the relationship between airbnb and gentrification in El Centro Histórico of Cartagena.

Keywords: Airbnb, gentrification, global south, Colombia, tourism
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 69

Abstract

Cartagena is recognized for a Historic Center whose colonial architecture has made the city, especially in the last decade, the main tourist and real estate attraction in Colombia. Some local leaders point out that this situation produced urban renovations that attract higher-income residents to the city. On the other hand, Rius and Posso (2016) point out that a gentrification driven by tourism could be occurring in which traditional residents of low and middle income leave the Historic Center in the face of real estate pressures, irregular changes in land use and alterations in neighborhood life. Fields (2018) points out that the acceleration of gentrification at the global level is associated with new forms and flows of capital that, in the face of the global crisis of 2008, have used the real estate market of some tourist cities as a spatial fix (Harvey, 1982) . Within these forms and flows, Cocola and Gago (2019) indicate that platforms such as Airbnb would be playing a key role because they provide flexibility and speed to the real estate market. Although the appearance of Airbnb in Cartagena was relatively slow, as of 2016 a boom arises which places Cartagena as one of the 5 global tourist destinations with the highest annual growth in the number of properties listed in Airbnb. This article aims to test the existence and spatial dynamics of possible recent gentrification in the Historic Center of Cartagena and, to determine how the Airbnb mechanism would be related to this possible gentrification.