Short-Term Rent and the Real Estate Market in Naples: An Overview

This presentation explores the intersection of touristification, platform capitalism, and housing dynamics in Southern European cities, with a focus on the case of Naples. The study critically investigates how the expansion of short-term rentals (STRs), especially through digital platforms such as Airbnb, is reshaping the urban housing landscape—transforming homes from spaces of dwelling into financialized assets. By analyzing Naples' historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the research reveals how symbolic capital, tourist accessibility, and investment logics converge to produce spatialized patterns of value extraction and displacement. Combining urban rent gap theory with empirical tools such as GIS spatial analysis, data scraping, and stakeholder interviews, the presentation demonstrates how entire housing units are being systematically removed from the long-term rental market. This has led to a steep rise in rents, the emergence of professionalized STR management firms, and increasing competition over urban space. The data confirms a shift from informal or domestic hosting to a model of platform-mediated urban real estate, governed by algorithmic pricing and rentier strategies. Special attention is given to housing affordability and the growing mismatch between residential needs and market dynamics. The presentation maps the concentration of STRs in central districts, highlighting their overlap with areas of high renter density and housing vulnerability. It also introduces a typology of "critical zones"—neighborhoods where housing precarity intersects with intense STR activity—posing urgent challenges for urban governance and regulation. The concept of socio-spatial injustice runs through the analysis, framing STRs not merely as economic opportunities but as drivers of inequality, displacement, and exclusion. The commodification of symbolic spaces, such as traditional ground-floor dwellings ("bassi"), is examined in the context of cultural branding and the aestheticization of marginality. Meanwhile, interviews with hosts and property managers reveal how STR platforms have enabled the emergence of a hybrid housing model that merges hospitality, speculation, and digital infrastructures. Ultimately, the presentation calls for a rethinking of housing not just as a commodity, but as a right and a social infrastructure. It advocates for stronger regulation, de-commodification strategies, and urban policies that prioritize inclusivity and affordability in the face of growing platform-driven pressures.