Air-BRU: Inequalities of Shared Short-Term Rentals in Brussels

Description

During the past decade, the offer in shared short-term rentals grew spectacularly in many tourist destinations. The Brussels-Capital Region is no exception: short-term rentals, advertised on ‘peer-to-peer’ platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway, have become increasingly common in the city, targeted both at tourists and expats. Although the shared short-term rental market offers many opportunities, there are also many unknowns and potential risks related to this collaborative economy. The Air-BRU project will add to our understanding of the challenges and consequences of the rise in short-term rentals in Brussels. It will examine the potential inequalities that come along with shared short-term rentals in the Brussels-Capital Region focussing on:

1. The spatial patterning of shared short-term rentals;
2. The type of providers of shared short-term rentals;
3. The supply, the characteristics and the accessibility of short-term rentals, as well as the contact between users and providers;
4. The consequences for the local residents
5. Finally, the project intends to formulate evidence-based policy recommendations to tackle the problems of socioeconomic, demographic and residential inequalities in relation to shared short-term rentals