FairBnB

= "a movement that seeks to encourage vacation rentals that comply with the principles of a fair, non-extractive and collaborative economy".

URL = https://fairbnb.coop/

Started in Amsterdam

Definition

"What if, in the world of short-term accommodation rentals, guests, hosts and neighbours could collectively decide together with municipalities how to make the rental process fairer, more sustainable and more rewarding for the whole community?

What if the platform’s profits were not an end in themselves but were invested back into the communities where the platform operates?

These are some of the questions that led us, a group of activists, coders, researchers and creatives from around the world, to connect with the goal of co-creating a viable market-based solution that could be a valid alternative to commercial platforms.

We are working on a vacation rental platform which offers three advantages over existing sites: transparency, co-ownership and added value for the neighborhoods.

The platform will be owned and managed by a cooperative of users and neighbours who will collectively decide how to reinvest part of the profits in local projects that would help to ease the impact of tourism, protect residency and fight gentrification.

These neighbours will also collaborate with hosts and guests to ensure a meaningful and community-driven experience for visitors." (https://social.fairbnb.coop/)

Description

1.

"We believe that any sharing economy platforms need to be transparent and accountable in order to be advantageous to citizens and the city. For this reason, we want to work towards a “FairBnB”.

FairBnB is a movement that seeks to encourage vacation rentals that comply with the principles of a fair, non-extractive and collaborative economy.

Some of the key questions are: How could these activities be managed to be beneficial to local initiatives and be kept from extracting values only for investors and speculators? How could they be managed so that visitors are encouraged to stay in those areas where they are not a disturbance, but beneficial to the neighbourhood?" (http://waag.org/en/event/fairbnb-building-sustainable-short-stay-rental-platform)

2. Danielle Batist:

"When I read this personal account written by a "reluctant Airbnb host" in Los Angeles in the Guardian yesterday, I was reminded of a Dutch initiative I came across the other day: Fairbnb. They are a community of activists, coders, researchers and designers who want to put the “share” back into the sharing economy. “We want to offer a community-centred alternative that prioritises people over profit and facilitates authentic, sustainable and intimate travel experiences”, they say in their manifesto.

Like Los Angeles, Amsterdam is one of many cities plagued by the "Airbnb effect". This visualisation shows just how Airbnb - and mostly commercially let places - exploded in the city. More and more initiatives pop up to try and showcase the problems, like Insideairbnb.com, a site that scrapes data from Airbnb to show how much of the listings are actually owned by property developers rather than individuals renting out their spare rooms.

Like many, I love the principle idea behind Airbnb and I have had great experiences staying with people I'd otherwise never have met. But that is no longer the full story of Airbnb: beyond the "win-win" situations it created, there are now people - and communities - losing out too. Yesterday’s article highlights the need for push back once again." (Piqer, August 2017)