Airbnb as an Economic Space
Title: Airbnb as an economic space. An economic space is either physical or non-physical system that creates a model through which people can design and interact with financial values. There are numerous platforms that can be classified as economic spaces including social websites such as Airbnb and Facebook. These platforms create spaces for people to gather and interact. Basically, the interaction of individuals within an economic space is determined by its structure and design. Each economic space has specific behaviors and traits associated with the social systems it forms. Airbnb has numerous benefits as an economic space because of its scale, allowing people to list and book accommodation from any part of the world.
Airbnb as an Economic Space
Airbnb is platform that allows peers to list and reserve housing around the world. Individuals with vacant rooms are allowed to register on Airbnb as hosts in order to list their properties. Similarly, guests enroll on the platform as hosts and are permitted to verify their identity using their online profiles or government-issued documents before they are allocated an accommodation. The platform is accessible through mobile application and websites. Recently, I interacted with Airbnb as a guest and experienced the numerous benefits associated with the space. It is easier, cheaper, and accessible from every part of the world. The listed properties are of diverse sizes and prices and are in locations that allow tourists to stay with the local people during their travel period. Airbnb is global in terms of scale because like many internet-based platforms, it is utilized by a global audience (Coe, Kelly, & Yeung, n.d.). Guests have the option of choosing the listing based on diverse criteria such as region, city, price, date, and features of property.
Nonetheless, the platform can be categorized into several scales that include a global, regional, national, urban, and local scale. One aspect of the platform that should be noted is that it is operated from a particular region although it is global. The listing of the products occurs from any place in the globe and hosts can easily update if their space is already booked.
Airbnb is fascinating because complementary economic activities are occurring concurrently at multiple scales (Coe, Kelly, & Yeung, n.d.). The accommodation services enabled by Airbnb are part of the sharing economy where users share assets and services using digital intermediaries. The difference between Airbnb and the traditional accommodation services is in the way of delivering these services. Because of the unique model utilized by Airbnb, there are numerous advantages for the hosts, the guests, and the populations at local levels. While searching for a suitable accommodation based on the available budget, I interacted with numerous hosts and the diverse properties available to clients across the globe. Basically, the actions of both the guests and hosts are shaped by the design of the platform, with each having a personalized interface to mediate the interactions.
Airbnb Interventions
Regarding interventions aided by Airbnb, it is not easier to isolate one scale of the system because the processes at a particular scale depend on the activities at another scale. The decisions that lead to the success of the business model are made at different levels of the systems. In this context, the human effort is augmented by digital structures. Each of the consumers is beneficiaries of the knowledge invested in the web platform. In the contemporary economic spaces, technology is the main tool to enhance the efficiency of the everyday activities. However, it is apparent that Airbnb platform does not overshadow the essence of ordinary work in the physical sense.
The design of the platform reveals what is an economic space and what it can do. Airbnb is a hallmark of economic globalization that braved the traditional methods of looking for accommodation. Consumers across the globe can choose from a variety of available spaces. Airbnb is a unique form of economic geography that has rationalized the tourism and travel industry (Walker, n.d.). Essentially, the analysis of Airbnb as an economic space is not confined in a singular scale but rather understanding that different scales are performing and active at the same time. When the platform is considered in one scale, we create a restricted and ambiguous understanding of the digital model used (Coe, Kelly, & Yeung, n.d.).
Conclusion
Airbnb is popular because it allows efficient and easier listing of properties that serve a global clientele. It is a digital system that allows people to undertake economic activities in a worldwide scale. There are numerous economic benefits associated with Airbnb because of the several scales that allow economic activities at the individual, local, national, and international level. The platform can be accessed through the website or mobile application and lists properties of diverse features, prices, and location. At all scale levels, the activities occur simultaneously. Listing and booking of accommodation occurs from any part of the world and the activities of one scale depend on the performance of the other. Airbnb is different from the traditional accommodation services because it offers benefits to people at different scales of the economic hierarchy simultaneously.
References
Coe, N. M., Kelly, P. F., & Yeung, H. W.-C. (n.d.). Thinking geographically. In Conceptual Foundations.
Walker, R. A. (n.d.). The geography of production.
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