Short-Term Island: Sharing Economy, Real Estate Market and Touristification Interplay in Capri (Italy)

Digital platforms and the sharing economy are influencing the sociospatial dynamics of cities, generating new behaviors and uses, promoting new opportunities, and bringing to light many critical issues related to, for example, the real estatemarket and social inequalities. The short-term rental website Airbnb is a relevant example of how online intermediaries can reshape urban practices, change social and cultural relationships, damage the traditional real estate market, and accentuate spatial hierarchies and inequalities. In this process, touristification represents an emerging crucial issue and a challenge for public policies oriented towards supporting the development of economic drivers and reducing social injustices. The social and economic fabric of entire neighbourhoods changes to accommodate tourists, progressively replacing local residents and activities. Territories are severely damaged and polluted due to intensive resource exploitation, and historic centres are being depopulated while becoming overcrowded with tourists. Tourism, if not well managed and thus in the absence of a clear and long-term vision, can produce negative effects on the urban system. This study, developed under the PRIN Research Project “Short Term City. Digital Platforms and Spatial Injustice”, aims to analyse the effects of short-term rentals and the related “touch and go” tourism on the cities. In particular, the focus is on Capri Island, Italy, and on the comparison between the Airbnb rental market and the “ordinary” real estate market. In this framework closely linked to “touch and go” tourism, a new online platform (called Inside Capri) is proposed, based on the logic of sharing and collaboration in line with circular economy principles. This platform aims to valorize local cultural heritage and promote cooperation between tourists and the community to make the tourism sector more sustainable.