Abstract
The growth in technology and the fourth industrial revolution has seen a rise in what has been termed the “sharing” economy in cities around the globe. Airbnb, the accommodation-sharing platform, has contributed to this movement and in doing so has generated new challenges for urban planning and land use regulation. This is mainly because the platform allows for the rapid and informal repurposing of existing properties and buildings from home-sharing to commercial-style Airbnb’s, which modify the character and land use of such properties. This process is often unregulated and undermines the existing bylaws and land use policies of cities. Additionally, difficulties in detecting when and how certain properties are used for alternate uses render traditional land use management controls ineffective and non-resilient in the digital era. This paper reflects and determines the challenges of regulating Airbnb and its impacts on land use management in the City of Johannesburg. The study employed a qualitative inquiry using key informant semi-structured interviews, which revealed that Airbnb is challenging the already limited ability of the municipality to enforce restrictions on how people choose to use their land. Additionally, data and findings indicate that there is difficulty in finding an appropriate metric to measure the impacts of Airbnb’s as there are no mechanisms to track their manifestation in the City. It is concluded that the City’s regulations tend to be slow in adapting to new types of technology thus the paper makes recommendations for an innovative approach to land use planning in the digital era.
