Understanding the role of peer-to-peer accommodation in disrupting the neighbourhood: A new form of gentrification

Supervised by Stephen Hincks and Ruth Hamilton

My research interests include land and real estate planning, spatial analysis, and housing search big data.

The aim of my PhD study is to explore the intersection of peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation, housing affordability, and susceptibility to gentrification in neighbourhoods and better understand the role of home-sharing in this intertwined relationship in UK cities from the rent gap theory point of view. Rather than just focusing solely on the supply of affordable housing and local government mortgage tax policies, the housing shortage associated with housing sharing can be seen as an extension of the potential for financialisation of housing. My PhD study will outline the controversies surrounding the emergence and development of P2P accommodation platforms, examine the far-reaching implications of this informal renting through digital platforms in the name of the sharing economy, and attempt to assess the impact of regulation on P2P housing as well as on urban governance.

Before starting my PhD in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning in January 2021, I obtained a master's degree in Real Estate Development from China in 2019, at which time I developed an interest in housing and GIS, and then I pursued an MSc in Applied GIS at the University of Sheffield in 2020.