Accions

SHARINGACTION2019 City sovereignty and Data policies. Special focus on Tourism Platforms 2019/11/20/apunts/01

De teixidora

https://pad.femprocomuns.cat/sharingbcn2019tourismplatforms

Conference notes

What kind of issues challenges and risks we can detect in cities around tourism platformization?

In terms of policy objectives the two tops priorities regarding housing affordability and availability and taxes. Cities that have high housing pressure that platforms are affecting housing costs and housing availability.

Murray - It igives new life to an old idea: that of a property owning democracy. If we look at this new notion is that they are creating a nes social and political community that the platforms, new means to renew this vision of politics. Making the cleavage btw owners and non-owners more pronnounced. The political leages are moving away from neighboors and local autorities. Platforms are creating new correlations between local and global authorities. Low regulations is happening behind closed dorrs and new bodies, away from local citizens demands, and cities have no mechanisms to influence these new decision making process. In EU all the decisions that are taking place regarding housing issues are away from local dimension.

Pablo - There a need to open the data. Multilevel problem. Problem of data literacy and data alfabetizaion. We need to have a more complex debate and better number than just global number, we lack data at the local level to be able to enforce new policies.

What kind of problems cities are experinecing?

Klemens - It is not clear how the new regulations will be. Cities administrations are always talking about 'yesterdays ideas' and this is why local administrations do not have data about housing issues. The data topic is one of the key point in the public opinion. the other point is the reliability of platform data. The common problem how to enforce the regulations which are there, and which are a lot. Although there are a lot of platforms not all platforms share their data, and although there are regulations it is hard for public administrations to enforce them.

Laia -

Albert - Enforcement are put by local administrations in Amsterdam as in many other cities but theyr dont have the resources to enforce these regulations. Yet there is growing knowledge and sesne of urgency from EU politicians that it cannot go the way it has gone in the last years in which global platforms have radically changed the housing market. It is democratically elected institutions that are to decide about housing market and not private business platforms. Neighborhoods are becoming more touristic, its not only airbnb that can be blamed, cause there s a gworing interest in policying wordlwide, so we have to separate housing policies from tourism discourses. All the obligations that are there are all directed to citizens but few are directed towards the platforms, this is wehat needs to be changed.

What kind of initiatives have been implemented in cities?

Klemens - it is always the same problem: we cant get the data: find the data, if you find them you can force the rules in your cities but if the platforms is not agreeing with local regulations you need to apply international regulations.

In the US: responsibility for the woners to register, and for the platforms to follow regulations. In France cities are adopting a new paradigm in regard to requiring platforms to open their data.

Pablo - In Spain there are policies but cities cannot enforce those policies thats why it is so important that local activist movements need to take action, it is important during the process of legal and institutional managment from the part of public administrations that civil society movements put pressure to have access to those data and start a debate.

Kelemens - In the EU this debate is already happening, and this bottom up debate about data accessibility is not the point, we need name and address of renters

These platforms are renewing the idea of the property owning democracy, and that of the urban iinhabitant. Local gov needs to point to the discourse of the right to the city and not that of ownership. We should not allow local regulatory measures to be framed as signle market rules, it is somethiing else. These platforms may allow to shift the political discourse from globalization vs. nationalism to new type of democracy.

Are cities a place where data analysis and policies could contribute to tecological footprints shift?

Klemens - Sharing resources will be a good thing for the environment? I doubt it.

Political challenges with regard to the citizens that you are facing..what about subsidiarity?

what neigbors feel is that their neighbors are not safe anymore..what you see is that people cannot control their environment anymore. The change just happens, without even noticing, you whole neighbors could radically change. People have faced annoyances of seeing their neighborhoods change. About the data it is not only about having the right data but also about modifying the platform itself. Since we do not know the exact data publica dministr are doing general rules. Platforms are against sharing their data necause it is against their private interest. It is very important to have the proper data to make platforms also responsible for what is happening.

How do we give the democratic opportunity to citizens to shape their cities? Most of the cities have agreed that this is the situations and that it needs to change. First: you have to access data to know what the actual impacts are. There is a concentration of power and opinions in the housing discourses, it is important to listen to activist groups, communities, citizens, to have them understand the regulation is required, and it is also important to have the meedia interested in the discourse to start a vibrant debate.