Fairbnb.coop

Fairbnb.coop is a cooperative online platform for short-term holiday accommodation, designed to be respectful of residents and local communities. The idea originated in 2018 in Amsterdam, a heavily touristed city that ranks among the world's top 20 destinations and Europe's top 10, receiving more than 7,500,000 tourists per year. The growth of the collaborative economy — in which consumers share ideas, goods and services without intermediaries — had transformed the city's housing market, largely through Airbnb, where more than 18,500 short-term accommodations were available at the time. Property owners, mainly for financial reasons, preferred renting short-term via Airbnb rather than making homes available to city residents. This reduced housing available to residents and students, sharply raised rental prices, and changed the local character as neighbourhood businesses shifted from serving residents to serving tourists. Similar situations emerged in many European cities such as Venice, Athens, Chania, Barcelona, London and Lisbon, and in American cities such as Vancouver, San Francisco and Mexico City. More than 30 European organisations formed a European coalition for the right to housing to defend residents living in tourist areas. In response, activists, programmers, researchers and designers in several of these cities created clusters to prepare a collaborative alternative platform that would work beneficially for the city, respect its residents, listen to local community needs, and help improve neighbourhood life by drawing on the ideas and practices of hosts, owners, visitors and the wider community. Fairbnb.coop describes itself as a cooperative society aiming to offer an alternative to mass tourism and its consequences. Its online Manifesto, still under development, sets out principles and objectives built around collective ownership, democratic administration, social sustainability, transparency and accountability. The platform developed a network of partners in six cities worldwide to finalise the project and make it operational. In Greece, a first Fairbnb cluster emerged, composed of three Athens-based collectives: Sociality, a cooperative working on digital communication and the internet; Place Identity Clusters, a non-profit working on urban regeneration and political innovation through citizen activation in the commons; and the common space PLUS.ERG, a workers' cooperative working on social research and urban, environmental and participatory planning. The Koukaki neighbourhood of Athens serves as a case study: a historic, densely built area since the 1960s with high home ownership, it ranked among the world's top 10 areas for growth in Airbnb bookings in 2016, recording an 800% increase over 2015, with around 300 accommodations rented via Airbnb or other online platforms. Few homes remained for rent, many long-standing neighbourhood shops closed as permanent residents dwindled, and real-estate prices rose sharply. According to the platform's community manager, Alessandro Latella, Fairbnb's ambition is to move from a passive model of revenue growth that can create inequalities and problems for part of the community to a cooperative-economy model where the community and its needs play the first and dominant role. The platform positions itself within sustainable tourism and the cooperative economy, operating as a business enterprise according to Wikidata.

The idea for Fairbnb.coop was born in 2018 in Amsterdam, a city with a predominantly tourist economy that ranks among the 20 most popular destinations in the world and among the top 10 in Europe, welcoming more than 7,500,000 tourists per year. The development of the collaborative economy, in which consumers can share ideas, goods and services without intermediaries, reducing their costs and gaining new experiences, also affected the rental of houses and rooms in Amsterdam, mainly through Airbnb's online platform, where more than 18,500 accommodations were available for short-term rental at the time. Property owners preferred, mainly for financial reasons, to rent their property short-term via Airbnb rather than make it available to city residents. This created a reduction in housing available to residents and students, a dramatic increase in rental prices, and a change in the city's local character, as neighbourhood businesses oriented their activity toward serving tourists rather than residents. A similar situation existed in many European cities such as Venice, Athens, Chania, Barcelona, London and Lisbon, and on the American continent in cities such as Vancouver, San Francisco and Mexico City. More than 30 film-related organisations in Europe formed the European Coalition for Action on the Right to Housing to defend the housing rights of residents living daily in tourist areas. Consequently, an alternative housing rental platform was sought that would work beneficially for the city, respect its residents, listen to the needs of local communities, and contribute to improving life in its neighbourhoods by leveraging the ideas and practices of hosts/owners, visitors and the whole community. Thus clusters of activists, programmers, researchers and designers were created in several of the above cities to prepare this collaborative project. The Manifesto posted on the FairBnB site, still under development, describes principles and objectives built around the following axes: collective ownership, democratic administration, social sustainability, transparency and accountability. FairBnB developed a network of partners in 6 cities around the world with the goal of finalising the project so that it could become operational and put into immediate operation. In Greece, a first FairBnB cluster was also born, composed of three collectives based in Athens: the clusters Sociality, Place Identity and the common space PLUS.ERG. Sociality is a cooperative that handles digital communication and the internet; Place Identity Clusters is a non-profit company that handles urban regeneration and political innovation through citizen activation in the commons; and the common space PLUS.ERG is a workers' cooperative that handles social research and urban, environmental and participatory planning. The Koukaki phenomenon illustrates the context: Koukaki is a historic neighbourhood of Athens, densely built since the 1960s with a high rate of home ownership. It borders the neighbourhoods of Petralona, Kallithea, Neos Kosmos, Makrigianni and Acropolis and is crossed by Syggrou Avenue. It was among the top 10 regions in the world in terms of increase in bookings via the Airbnb electronic platform for 2016, recording an increase of 800% compared to 2015. Around 300 accommodations in the area were rented via Airbnb or other online rental platforms. Few residential houses were rented and many neighbourhood businesses that had been active for years were forced to close, because the permanent residents of the neighbourhood with whom they had developed social ties were few. None of the residents seemed to care about broken sidewalks, the homeless, stray animals and other neighbourhood problems. On the other hand, new businesses appeared, mainly related to catering, the sale of tourist items and real-estate management, in order to serve an ever-growing tourist flow. Large companies also turned to Koukaki as an area from which they believed they could profit, buying or renting real estate in the area with the aim of exploiting it for tourism via short-term rental platforms. The direct consequence of all this mobility on the territory was that real-estate prices rose sharply. Koukaki is a typical example of the changing physiognomy of a neighbourhood affected (positively or negatively) by the tourist flow that developed through electronic rental platforms. Fairbnb's ambition, according to the platform's community manager, Alessandro Latella, is to move from a passive model of revenue growth that can create inequalities and problems in part of the community to a cooperative-economy model where the community and its needs have the first and dominant role.

• 2018

  The idea for Fairbnb.coop is born in Amsterdam as a cooperative alternative to mass-tourism rental platforms.

• 2016

  Koukaki, Athens, records an 800% increase in Airbnb bookings over 2015, becoming a case study for the platform's mission.

A cooperative, community-oriented alternative to mass-tourism short-term rental platforms, built on collective ownership, democratic administration, social sustainability, transparency and accountability.

• Fairbnb.coop online booking platform

  A cooperative short-term rental platform connecting hosts and guests with a community-benefit model.

• Coordinated spam attack targeting hosts

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• Adoption of cooperative governance principlesOther

1. 1Fairbnb.coop official websitefairbnb.coop
2. 2Fairbnb.coop on Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Fairbnb.coop on French Wikipediafr.wikipedia.org