39 research outputs found
Urban tourism and population change: Gentrification in the age of mobilities
The prepandemic unbridled growth of tourism has triggered a significant debate
regarding the future of cities; several authors suggest that neighbourhood change
produced by tourism should be conceived as a form of gentrification. Yet research on
population shiftsâa fundamental dimension of gentrificationâin such
neighbourhoods is scarce. Our exploration of the GĂČtic area in Barcelona, using quantitative
and qualitative techniques, reveals a process of population restructuring
characterised by a decrease of long-term residents and inhabited dwellings, and the
arrival of young and transnational gentrifiers that are increasingly mobile and form a
transient population. We then use some insights from the mobilities literature to
make sense of these results. In the gentrification of the GĂČtic, the attractiveness of
the area for visitors and for a wider palette of transnational dwellers feeds one
another, resulting in an uneven negotiation whereby more wealthy and âfootlooseâ
individuals gain access and control of space and housing over less mobile and more
dependent populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Short-term rentals as a new urban frontier â evidence from European cities
Papers in this special issue offer a wide range of political economy and sociological perspectives to explain the development and impacts of short-term rentals (STRs) in European cities. Empirically, they provide insights regarding STR providers, socio-spatial impacts, and regulation. Authors reveal the professionalization of the sector vis-Ă -vis the connection between STRs and the wider financialization of housing. STRs are predominantly supplied by professional property managers as well as by middle-class individuals for which renting on digital platforms is their main professional activity. Furthermore, the increasing professionalization of hosts and the intrinsic competition among them is largely stimulated by the business model of digital platforms which has progressively favoured professional operators. Understanding how STRs are shaped by platform capitalism helps to explain the socio-spatial impacts of this market as well as why current regulations have not mitigated such impacts. In terms of impacts, contributions to this special issue document processes of displacement, gentrification, and how the penetration of visitors in neighbourhoods is experienced by residents as a process of loss and dispossession. However, due to the lobbying campaigns of professional operators and industry players, regulation has led to the legitimization of this new market rather than to the limitation of the activity. Therefore, the special issue challenges the use of a âsharing economy' and âpeer-to-peer platformsâ as analytical categories, and, instead, provides evidence of why the STR market should be seen as part of the wider expansion of platform capitalism, consolidating the neoliberal and financialized urban paradigm
Airbnb and crime in Barcelona (Spain): testing the relationship using a geographically weighted regression
The existence of works proving the possible relationship empirically that Airbnb lodgings could have with crime in Spain is not known. This research analyzes the relationship between Airbnb lodgings and crimes against the properties and people in Barcelonaâs neighbourhoods. To achieve this, we use an ordinary least squares regression model and a geographically weighted regression model. The results show a significant and positive relationship between the higher density of Airbnb lodgings and the higher crime rates in the neighbourhoods, especially of patrimonial nature. Divided by type of leased space, the Airbnb homes, in which the guest shares a room with other guests, show a higher relationship with crimes against property and people. The results of the local model show a spatial heterogeneity in all variables used, indicating the need to address non-stationary spatial processes that reveal hidden patterns. However, the only variable that shows statistically significant local variability is the total Airbnb lodgings variable. Finally, we discussed some unexpected results, proposing some future lines of research. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group, on behalf of Nanjing Normal University
Identification of functionally related genes using data mining and data integration: a breast cancer case study
The Comet Interceptor Mission
Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner Solar System for the first time, or to encounter an interstellar object originating at another star. The objectives of the mission are to address the following questions: What are the surface composition, shape, morphology, and structure of the target object? What is the composition of the gas and dust in the coma, its connection to the nucleus, and the nature of its interaction with the solar wind? The mission was proposed to the European Space Agency in 2018, and formally adopted by the agency in June 2022, for launch in 2029 together with the Ariel mission. Comet Interceptor will take advantage of the opportunity presented by ESAâs F-Class call for fast, flexible, low-cost missions to which it was proposed. The call required a launch to a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The mission can take advantage of this placement to wait for the discovery of a suitable comet reachable with its minimum ÎV capability of 600 msâ1. Comet Interceptor will be unique in encountering and studying, at a nominal closest approach distance of 1000 km, a comet that represents a near-pristine sample of material from the formation of the Solar System. It will also add a capability that no previous cometary mission has had, which is to deploy two sub-probes â B1, provided by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and B2 â that will follow different trajectories through the coma. While the main probe passes at a nominal 1000 km distance, probes B1 and B2 will follow different chords through the coma at distances of 850 km and 400 km, respectively. The result will be unique, simultaneous, spatially resolved information of the 3-dimensional properties of the target comet and its interaction with the space environment. We present the missionâs science background leading to these objectives, as well as an overview of the scientific instruments, mission design, and schedule