Rethinking Platform Urbanization from the Perspective of Latin American Cities: Theoretical Insights and Empirical Contributions of Regional Research on Airbnb

Resumen

Increasingly integrated into urban economies, digital platforms are reshaping how space is produced in cities. In Latin America, geographies of platforms intersect with region-specific urban dynamics such as peripheral urbanization, spatial inequality, land informality, and urban extractivism. Although the majority of urban literature on Airbnb has focused on the Global North, the Latin American experience offers both empirical contributions and theoretical insights. This article combines bibliometric and content analyses of studies on Airbnb across Latin America, emphasizing regional urban theories in the study of platformization. Data gathered show that the literature is consolidating regionally through the efforts of two main poles (one comprising Argentina, Brazil, and Chile and the other made up of different geographical contexts) which constitute the core of the literature network structure. Based on this body of work, the present study maps the relevance of long-lasting inequality, persistent informality, political fragility, and accelerated financialization as key elements shaping the spatialization of Airbnb in Latin America.