Assessing the Interstitial Rent: The Effects of Touristification on the Historic Center of Naples (Italy)

Abstract

The paper explains a research methodology to understand the impacts of touristification and overtourism on the urban dimension. A block of the Naples historic downtown (Italy) has been selected as a sample to verify the transformations induced by the airification process of the city since 2015 on the social and urban environment, investigating the influence on real estate dynamics, and their impacts related to economic, social, cultural and urban criteria. The mapping of Airbnb listings on the block has allowed to analyse the economic convenience of renting short-term housing, identifying an income surplus defined as “interstitial rent”, which represents the economic advantage achieved. The analyses carried out on the average market values of the properties on Airbnb have revealed the tendency to redevelop the “waste building stock”, which is unattractive for the ordinary market, in view of its turbo-valorisation by converting it into accommodation. The attractiveness characteristics of the properties were compared to the average market values to investigate the housing stock that can be removed from the ordinary residence market in view of its value enhancement. This research has highlighted the progressive gentrification of the historic center and the relocation of the permanent inhabitants outside it. Therefore, investigating the prevailing sentiment that agitates the social organisations of Europe, we have come to provide an intervention proposal for the regulation of post covid-19 housing policy, which tends to co-participated formulation of strategic choices, involving all interested parties, in order to find a shared application.

European historic cities and overtourism – conflicts and development paths in the light of systematic literature review

“…Among the reasons for the outflow of residents from historic centers, the development of Airbnb listings is often pointed out. Cerreta et al (2020) investigate the correlation between the development of Airbnb listings in the historic center of Naples and the fast gentrification of this area and point their text with a call for more strict regulations, even on the international level, of sharing economy accommodation systems. A considerable concentration of accommodation facilities was also recognized as a significant factor leading to the gentrification of the old city of Granada (Navarro-Valverde et al, 2023) and Florence (Celata & Romano, 2020).…”

“…This is surprising as the scheme of the impact of short-term rental differs between historic cities and most other cities. In historic cities, a significant number of listing is located in the old city or nearby (Bugalski, 2020; Cerreta et al, 2020), which reflects the concentration of tourism attractions (Amore et al, 2020) and flows (Talk et al, 2023). In big metropolises, often, there are a few areas of concentration of short-term listings (Bugalski, 2020), and tourism flows are spread wider across the city (Amore et al, 2020).…”

“…The best documented is the issue of regulations imposed on different aspects of tourism traffic and tourism services. The most attention is paid here to regulating services of shortterm rental accommodations (Celata & Romano, 2020;Cerreta et al, 2020;Garcı ´a-Hern andez & de Miguel, 2021). Bei & Celata (2023) analyze solutions made in numerous European cities, including Florence and Venice, studied here as well as many other cities, such as Amsterdam, Barcelona and Berlin.…”

Wartości niematerialne i turystyka przestrzeni publicznych w starożytnym centrum Neapolu (Włochy)

“…They have often resulted in the loss of original and stratified construction materials of architectural heritage by taking the form of superficial make-up operations that have sacrificed elements of facades above all, such as ashlars, pilasters and traditional plasters. 5 In addition to these factors, the main threat to the conservation of public spaces is certainly the growing impact of touristification (Cerreta, Della Mura & Poli 2020;Iovino 2021). The prestige afforded by UNESCO's recognition has increased the tourist flow, which may have rehabilitated the image of Naples internationally, but has also triggered the process of commodification of the historic city, becoming a threat to the genius loci (ICOMOS 2008).…”

“…The current situation of the square is therefore representative both of approaches to the conservation of the historical urban fabric in Naples, and of the current developments in the city's ancient centre. Around the churchyard, traditional craftsmanship has been replaced with restaurants, while the residential function has shifted toward short-term rental (Cerreta, Della Mura & Poli 2020). Meanwhile, the garden in the churchyard of Santa Chiara has been transformed into a playground for children and a dog park.…”