Between Home and Investment: Airbnb Dynamics in the Latin American Heritage City of Valparaíso

Abstract

This article examines the expansion of short-term rentals in Valparaíso, Chile, through the Airbnb platform. The study addresses the broader context of digital platforms transforming housing markets, with a focus on Latin American cities, where the implications of short-term rental growth remain understudied. The main objective is to understand how Airbnb is reshaping the spatial, economic, and social dimensions of rental housing in Valparaíso. Methodologically, the article employs quantitative methods, combining spatial analysis techniques (using ArcGIS) and descriptive statistical analysis. The results reveal that entire homes cluster in heritage-tourism hills (Concepción and Alegre) and coastal zones with panoramic views, where nightly rates can exceed the citywide average threefold, while shared rooms are dispersed in lower-income hills. Likewise, the study identifies a heterogeneous host profile; half of the hosts are owners who have another residence to live in, while the other half offers rooms within their own homes, indicating that platform usage is a complementary income strategy. These dynamics reflect asset-based welfare logics, repositioning housing as a hybrid asset for income generation rather than solely a domestic space. Even in the absence of large-scale corporate landlords, this fragmented market contributes to housing commodification and intensifies spatial inequalities. The study highlights the need for regulatory frameworks tailored to the socio-territorial specificities of heritage Latin American cities, which face both housing deficits and tourism pressures.

1. Introduction

Since the second half of the 21st century, digital platforms have experienced significant growth, positioning themselves as key agents in the management and production of urban space. In 2009, only 16% of the 20 companies with the highest market capitalization worldwide were technology firms; by 2020, this percentage had risen to 56% [1]. These platforms provide basic goods and services, create new types of employment, manage rental housing, and influence pricing, establishing new patterns of urban mobility [2]. This impact supports the argument that platforms not only operate within the city but actively produce their own urban space through new mobility practices and uses of public space, transformations in the nature and temporality of housing use, impacts on housing prices, intensification of tourist uses in a neighborhood, and displacement of population, among other processes. Airbnb is one of the most emblematic platforms regarding its impacts on housing markets, particularly in the short-term rental segment. The market in which Airbnb operates is highly dynamic and competitive, with competitors including platforms such as Wimdu, Anyplace, 9flats, Booking, Vrbo, Expedia, and Despegar, as well as local platforms and the traditional hotel industry. Digital platforms, such as Uber, Airbnb, and Uber Eats, have the capacity to redefine urban life across several dimensions. They introduce new forms of precarious employment, reconfigure mobility into more flexible formats, and incorporate housing and automobiles as income-generating assets for individuals. The concept of platform urbanism refers to an urban environment increasingly structured by the presence and power of digital platforms, as well as the material manifestation of their impact on everyday life and urban space [3,4]. Today, their influence extends beyond the web, permeating everyday life and physical urban space [1]. Sadowski [3] observes that platforms such as Airbnb, Rappi, or Uber promote their services as mechanisms for transforming supposedly idle resources, like a spare room, time behind the wheel, or even one’s domestic space, into economically productive assets. From this perspective, the city and its spaces are conceived as inefficient, underutilized systems and, therefore, as ripe for optimization through technological mediation [3]. This logic entails an expansion of the boundaries of platform capitalism, advancing into new spheres of urban life and commodifying public and domestic space as well as residents’ free time. This process unfolds in a context of increasing labor precarity and underemployment, where monetizing personal assets such as housing becomes an individual strategy for economic survival. The platforms expand precarious labor conditions in the contemporary city, particularly among the youth, by creating a mass of workers without access to social security, vacation days, or accident insurance, thereby intensifying the labor precarity of the workforce. As Lerena-Rongvaux [5] points out, digital platforms are part of new accumulation regimes deployed on a global scale, driven by technological transformations characteristic of the current stage of capitalism. In this context, digital technologies have enabled the dispersion of economic activity and enhanced producers’ ability to reach consumers in increasingly distant locations. This phenomenon has accelerated both capital turnover and accumulation, while simultaneously deepening the social contradictions inherent to the model.

Literature Review

In the case of Chile, Airbnb began operations in 2012. There is limited data on the overall impact of Airbnb in Chile; the most recent figures indicate that it has approximately 27,400 active hosts nationwide, with annual growth rates generally exceeding 50% in various cities [6]. The most popular destinations included the cities of Santiago, cities near the capital, and coastal cities: Viña del Mar, Valparaíso, and La Serena, and Pucón, in the south of the country; though the Airbnb offer has progressively expanded into new tourist locations, including rural communities in the north and south of the country. In 2017, 542,000 people used Airbnb, representing a 77% increase compared to 2016. By 2019, entire homes accounted for 57% of listings, private rooms for 41%, and shared rooms for 3% [7]. The short-term rental market through digital platforms in Chile, as in many other countries, is characterized by limited regulation. Unlike traditional accommodation, this type of offering does not require compliance with obligations such as paying taxes or registering with official records, making it difficult to monitor through institutional sources such as the National Statistics Institute (INE, by its Spanish acronym) or the Internal Revenue Service (SII, by its Spanish acronym) [7]. Consequently, platforms like Airbnb are not subject to Chilean regulations on free competition, which would require them to provide information to regulatory agencies [7]. In 2022, Airbnb intermediated bookings valued between USD 150 million and USD 200 million, generating revenues of between USD 20 million and USD 30 million that same year. These figures position Airbnb as a major company within the Chilean market, albeit without proportional tax contributions relative to its operational volume [7]. According to Graham [8], these platforms are too large to be controlled and too novel to be regulated, functioning as distant actors with no accountability to local priorities. This regulatory void gives platforms a competitive edge over traditional models, which are subject to local and national laws. Such deregulation benefits investors, allowing them to operate with less responsibility toward tenant rights. While traditional rentals are subject to regulations that protect tenants, for example, during evictions or property returns, these protections do not apply in the same way to short-term commercial rentals [9]. According to Sadowski [3], platforms operate within cities by producing their own space and generating value both in monetary terms and as “data capital.” Within this context, so-called proptechs—a portmanteau of property and technology—have emerged in the real estate market as companies that integrate technological innovations into the various stages of the real estate cycle. Even though they do not own the goods or services they manage, these platforms institute new mechanisms for rent extraction and value creation [3]. In this scenario, housing tends to be decoupled from its use value and social role, gaining prominence as a tradable asset. Although recent years have seen increased research in Chile and Latin America on the growing significance of rental housing markets [10,11], gaps remain regarding the role of digital platforms and short-term rentals in reshaping rental markets and creating new barriers to housing access. Several studies have explored the emergence and expansion of these platforms in Latin American cities; for example, in Buenos Aires and Santiago [12], Sao Paulo [13] and other cities. Additionally, broader reviews of the phenomenon across the region have been identified [14,15]. However, as pointed out by [15], studies on Airbnb and similar platforms in Latin America remain relatively nascent compared to other world regions.

2. Materials and Methods

To study the impact of Airbnb on the development of the short-term rental market in Valparaíso, quantitative methods were employed, combining spatial analysis techniques (using ArcGIS 10.8) and descriptive statistical analysis (minimum, maximum, mean, and median values). In the first phase, georeferenced data from 1538 short-term rental listings in the city were processed at the point and census zone levels. Airbnb data were collected using a web scraping technique, which retrieves publicly available information from online platforms. A search was conducted and a database was constructed between December 2021 and February 2022. The dataset included location, price, type of listing (entire home or room), and number of days rented. The raw database was then manually reviewed and refined to ensure reliability. Duplicate entries were identified and removed by cross-checking unique listing IDs, while incorrectly typed data and geolocation errors outside the official urban boundaries were filtered out. “Active” listings were defined as those available for booking during the period of data collection, thus providing a snapshot of the platform’s effective supply. After these adjustments, the data were compiled into a structured database for analysis using ArcGIS software. This process enabled the identification of key concentrations of Airbnb listings, distinguishing between entire homes and room rentals, and thereby delineating areas with the highest levels of short-term rental activity. In a subsequent stage, additional variables such as nightly price and host type (individual/family or business) were incorporated, allowing for a combined spatial and economic characterization of the listings. Finally, it is important to note the inherent limitations of web scraping: the analysis relies on publicly available data, which may underrepresent hidden or temporarily inactive listings and is constrained to the specific timeframe in which the data were collected.

The database was constructed between December 2021 and February 2022, coinciding with the summer season, when short-term rentals typically reach their annual peak in both demand and prices. This timeframe entails certain limitations, including the potential overestimation of average prices and occupancy rates, the reduced representativeness of off-season dynamics, and possible biases when contrasted with the more stable patterns of long-term rental markets. Nevertheless, we consider the data to be robust and valid, as focusing on peak months enables us to capture the maximum intensity of platform activity and to examine how short-term rentals operate under conditions of highest demand. This perspective provides valuable insight into the broader functioning and impacts of the platform. Future research should expand this analysis by systematically comparing seasonal and off-season periods to assess the persistence or variability of these dynamics.

3. Results

3.1. Spatial Distribution of Airbnb in Valparaíso

The spatial analysis of Airbnb in Valparaíso reveals different logics of territorial valorization, based on landscape, heritage, functional, or cultural attributes. The main concentration occurs in the Concepción and Alegre hills, an area of the World Heritage Site characterized by a process of tourism-oriented commercial renewal that currently concentrates the city’s tourism infrastructure [16]. Together, these hills account for approximately 250 active short-term rental listings. The second most important concentration is the Coastal Short-Term Rental Hub, a cluster characterized by rental offerings centered on the experience of coastal landscape contemplation, particularly emphasizing visual access to the Pacific Ocean. It includes the hills of Barón, Playa Ancha, Artillería, Esperanza, and Placeres. Unlike other areas, the appeal here is not tied to heritage values but rather to scenic capital, especially ocean views (See Figure 1 and Figure 2). Below are concentrations such as (a) hills undergoing emerging touristification (Yungay, Bellavista, Mariposa, Florida, and Cárcel), which are promoted as offering cultural assets such as Pablo Neruda’s La Sebastiana house museum and other cultural places. (b) Hub in Areas Undergoing Vertical Development, in this case, the rental offerings are not associated with heritage or cultural values but rather functional attributes such as security, parking, and panoramic views from high-rise buildings. This hub includes areas like Cerro Las Delicias, San Roque, and Placeres Alto, where recent real estate developments dominate. And (c) El Almendral–Plan Sector Hub, an area that offers a diverse range of apartments and mansions located on the city’s flatlands. Its value lies in proximity to services, universities, and connectivity with public transportation networks, making it attractive to both tourists and visitors traveling for academic or work-related purposes.

The case of Airbnb in Valparaíso reveals a pattern of short-term rental concentration around two central attributes of the urban landscape: heritage tourism bubbles (such as the Concepción and Alegre hills) and properties with views of the Pacific Ocean (as in the Barón hill) (See Figure 3). Both typologies share a valuation logic that abstracts from the context of economic and urban decay characterizing large areas of the city. From a spatial perspective, there is a clear differentiation. Shared rooms are widely dispersed across various areas of the “amphitheater of Valparaíso,” including hills with lower-income populations such as El Litre and Merced. In contrast, entire homes are concentrated in distinct tourist enclaves, most notably the touristified hills of Concepción and Alegre, as well as along the coastal strip, which includes the hills of Portales, Esperanza, Cerro Barón, and Playa Ancha.

Based on the data collected, it can be observed that the average minimum nightly cost of a short-term rental via Airbnb in Valparaíso is approximately USD 15.68, while the maximum can reach up to USD 145.43. However, these figures are not evenly distributed across the city. They vary significantly depending on the spatial concentration of listings, which correspond to distinct logics of urban valorization (see

Table 1. Descriptive statistics of Airbnb prices across urban hubs in Valparaíso (USD). Source: Authors’ elaboration based on web scraping of publicly available Airbnb listings (Valparaíso, December 2021–February 2022).

Title 1	Min Value (USD)	Max Value (USD)	Mean Min (USD)	Median Min (USD)	Mean Max (USD)	Median Max (USD)
Coastal Short-Term Rental Hub	12.62	164.65	14.30	10.26	174.05	135.80
Touristic/Heritage Hub	8.98	442.25	9.26	8.42	456.22	368.42
Barrio Puerto and Lower Slopes of Adjacent Hills Hub	32.14	100.33	48.16	12.63	125.11	57.89
Hub in Areas Undergoing Vertical Development	15.42	39.78	16.23	11.16	38.96	36.84
Hub in Hills Undergoing Emerging Touristification	11.71	125.08	13.01	10.53	118.48	76.69
El Almendral–Plan Sector Hub	13.17	147.88	15.37	11.05	120.01	63.56

). These price differentials reflect a process of urban rent extraction driven by the expansion of short-term rental markets. In particular, the heritage designation of specific areas has functioned as a catalyst for real estate appreciation, attracting tourism-oriented investment and reconfiguring the urban landscape around the logic of consumption. The area identified in this study as the “Touristic-Heritage Hub” exhibits rental prices that triple the citywide maximum average, demonstrating how “urban heritage” operates as a mechanism of spatial and economic differentiation. Simultaneously, the analysis reveals a process of privatization of collective urban values, particularly the scenic capital associated with views of the Pacific Ocean, a distinctive feature of Valparaíso’s natural amphitheater. While the coastal sector does not reach the same levels of profitability as the heritage zone, its comparative advantage in landscape value translates into above-average rental prices relative to other areas of the city. This suggests that both cultural-symbolic capital and landscape aesthetics are being mobilized as key assets in the commodification of urban space, reinforcing patterns of selective investment and residential exclusion.

While minimum values remain relatively stable across hubs, maximum prices display significant heterogeneity and are highly skewed by extreme cases. This is particularly evident in touristic and heritage hubs, where the mean substantially exceeds the median, reflecting the presence of outliers that push average values upward. Conversely, hubs undergoing vertical development or located in consolidated urban sectors show more contained maximums, suggesting greater price homogeneity. The use of both mean and median measures allows us to capture these contrasts: the mean highlights the market’s potential for high returns, while the median offers a more representative account of typical price levels.

One of the most representative real estate developments is the so-called Mirador Barón project, a six-building complex built on the site of the former Valparaíso Railway Hospital (see Figure 4). Although praised for its architectural design, this project has also become a magnet for investment-oriented short-term rentals. Fieldwork confirms that many units in this complex are listed on Airbnb by non-resident owners or professional management companies, marketed as a premium residential experience with panoramic ocean views. Nightly rates in Cerro Barón now surpass those of the heritage zone, reaching an average of USUSD 138.82. This pricing is particularly striking given Valparaíso’s predominantly working-class urban fabric. Such disparity illustrates a growing disconnection between local housing needs and speculative valorization processes. As Graham [8] describes, these areas are examples of “conjunctural geographies”, which means urban spaces temporarily integrated into global circuits of consumption and profitability, yet increasingly detached from the social dynamics and inhabitants that historically shaped them.

In contrast, lower-priced rentals exhibit a more dispersed distribution throughout the city’s amphitheater of hills, stretching from Cerro Playa Ancha to Cerro Esperanza, and even extending beyond Avenida Alemania, a street that cuts across the hillside area roughly at mid-slope.

These findings highlight that Airbnb is not solely a platform associated with leisure or tourism in high-value real estate areas; it also operates in territories marked by greater socioeconomic vulnerability. The significant presence of listings in working-class hills suggests that areas historically excluded from the traditional tourism market are appropriating the platform as a strategy to diversify income, contest the meaning of residential use, and actively participate in digital economies. Thus, Airbnb functions as a mechanism that territorially activates both high-income and middle- and low-income groups, though under different logics and objectives.

In Chile, the rental housing market has expanded significantly over the past two decades. In Valparaíso, previous studies have highlighted the importance of a popular rental sector marked by its vulnerability to urban transformation processes. This fragility stems from the absence of strong legal protections, the limited renewal of the housing stock available to low-income groups, and the consequent exposure of long-term tenants to cycles of displacement and relocation within the city. The data analyzed in this study show that these popular rentals not only persist as a key form of housing access but have also begun to enter the short-term rental market. This participation is particularly evident in the working-class hills of Valparaíso, areas distant from both the most touristified zones and the best-connected urban corridors. Their visibility on platforms such as Airbnb indicates that short-term rentals cannot be explained solely through a tourism lens; rather, they should also be understood as a household economic strategy, enabling middle- and low-income families to supplement precarious incomes. In this sense, short-term rentals emerge as a transversal phenomenon, bridging informal economic practices with the broader dynamics of urban social reproduction.

3.2. Host Characterization: A Dual Structure of Airbnb Supply in Valparaíso: Private Rooms and Entire Homes in Near Balance

Private rooms are predominant (49.5%), almost on par with entire homes (48.5%) (See Figure 5). In contrast, the supply of shared rooms (1.5%) and hotel rooms (0.5%) is very limited. Although entire homes do not constitute the majority of listings, they are concentrated in specific areas of the city (lower hills such as Placeres, Barón, Bellavista, and Concepción-Alegre), which amplifies their local impact. Another noteworthy element is the marginal presence of hotels on the platform, suggesting that the formal accommodation sector makes little or only residual use of Airbnb. The high proportion of private rooms indicates that many hosts monetize spaces within their own homes, a practice aligned with asset-based welfare strategies in which housing becomes a source of supplementary income through fragmented use of the property [17]. This modality transforms the conception of housing, which no longer functions exclusively as an intimate, family space but also as a hybrid asset, partially commodified and subject to flexible logics of use. Taken together, these patterns suggest that Valparaíso exhibits mixed monetization strategies, positioning it in an intermediate place between cities where Airbnb supply is dominated by investors and those where it more closely reflects a “fragmented renting”. Future research should examine how the concentration of entire homes in specific neighborhoods may affect the dynamics of traditional rental markets.

While individual hosts dominate in Valparaíso, specialized companies managing short-term rentals of second homes owned by private individuals have been identified. HOM Group, a Chilean company founded in 2018 and inspired by US short-term rental models, is particularly prominent. AirDNA data shows HOM Group with approximately 260 active Airbnb listings and a presence in cities like Santiago, Antofagasta, Puerto Varas, and Cachagua, making it the leading short-term rental company in Chile. For HOM Group, Airbnb primarily serves as a marketing platform, alongside Booking and Vrbo. The company offers to optimize property profitability, leveraging the significantly higher margins of short-term rentals compared to traditional leasing. Their services include comprehensive apartment management, from furnishing with a standardized aesthetic to operational administration, aiming to ensure higher occupancy rates and profitability. HOM Group thus represents a new phase of professionalization in short-term rentals, linking investment and tourism consumption through a business and technology-driven logic, though still nascent in Valparaíso.

Analysis of host profiles shows that, alongside entire-home listings, a substantial share of the market consists of room-based rentals, while hotel-type listings remain marginal (0.5%). This composition points to a form of “fragmented renting,” in which working- and middle-class residents mobilize parts of their primary homes as a strategy to navigate economic uncertainty. Rather than embodying the ideals of the sharing economy, these practices resonate with processes of urban rent extraction, albeit carried out by small-scale actors. As Schor [18] and Slee [19] suggest, the collaborative ethos once associated with platforms like Airbnb has largely been replaced by commercial and profit-oriented uses of residential space. In Valparaíso, these dynamics are better understood within the framework of asset-based welfare, where housing functions simultaneously as shelter and as a financial resource. By converting domestic space into a source of income, households assume the risks and responsibilities of securing their well-being in contexts of limited welfare provision. This reveals how the financialization of everyday life operates not only through corporate landlords but also through dispersed, small-scale actors enabled by digital platforms. Ultimately, Airbnb in Valparaíso illustrates how platform urbanism reconfigures the meaning and uses of housing: residential space becomes a flexible, income-generating asset, while the city itself is reshaped through the commodification of its homes and the social practices this entails.

In summary:

• Landscape and heritage attributes are central drivers of Airbnb concentrations within the city.
• The spatial distribution of listings reveals a marked location bias towards the lower hillsides, areas that also coincide with proximity to essential urban services concentrated in the lower part of Valparaíso.
• In these concentrated areas, short-term rental activity demonstrates significant profitability, with daily revenues that can accumulate rapidly, highlighting the attractiveness of these zones for hosts.
• Host profiles reveal a clear divide: on one side, individual owners renting out entire properties (with minimal evidence of corporate participation); on the other, residents who rent out portions of their own homes. This dichotomy illustrates how socioeconomic disparities shape the platform’s use, separating those able to position housing as a tourism-oriented asset from those who activate it as a source of supplementary income.

4. Discussion

The case of Airbnb in Valparaíso reveals a distinctive structure in the short-term rental market, characterized by an almost equal share of private rooms (49.5%) and entire homes (48.5%). The analysis of hosts shows that, alongside those renting out entire dwellings, there is a significant submarket for room-based rentals. Even in the absence of large-scale corporate hosts, these dynamics reflect the logic of urban rent extraction, reshaping housing into a commodified and flexible-use asset. At the same time, these practices provide households, often operating under conditions of economic precarity, with a mechanism to sustain themselves in a city marked by instability and rising living costs. In this sense, the expansion of short-term rentals cannot be understood solely as a response to tourism demand, but rather as part of broader transformations in the meaning and uses of housing: from a primarily domestic, family-oriented space into a hybrid asset, partially commodified and embedded in flexible-use logics.

The spatial analysis highlights two distinct logics of valorization: in the heritage-designated hills of Concepción and Alegre, where premium listings emphasize historical character and cultural proximity; and along the coastal zone, where high-value properties capitalize on panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Entire homes cluster in these high-demand areas, with nightly rates up to three times higher than the citywide average, while shared rooms are dispersed across lower-income hills such as El Litre, Artillería, Larraín, Arrayan, and Merced. This spatial concentration of Airbnb reinforces selective urban renewal in the tourist and coastal zones, producing patterns of valorization increasingly detached from the city’s broader socio-economic realities of stagnation and housing precarity. Coordinated through digital platforms, these dynamics contribute to the intensification of urban inequality in Valparaíso, as access to housing and urban amenities becomes increasingly stratified.

In intermediate cities like Valparaíso, these transformations unfold in the absence of systematic data collection, effective monitoring, and tailored regulatory frameworks. The findings suggest a Latin American form of short-term rental financialization; one not dominated by corporate landlords but rather by numerous small-scale actors engaged in modest and fragmented forms of rent extraction. While host practices are diverse and cannot be reduced to a simple binary between “investors” and “complementary income seekers,” their cumulative effects remain significant; they generate new restrictions on access to well-located housing, land value inflation, and deepening urban inequalities. This research also extends the concept of “fragmented renting” by documenting how precarious households in non-tourist areas adopt platform-mediated strategies for economic survival. These practices are not purely entrepreneurial but represent forms of resilience embedded in urban conditions of structural precarity and austerity.

A distinctive feature of platform urbanism in Valparaíso is its adaptation to diverse urban and economic contexts. It is not only deployed in real estate markets of wealthy cities, but it also adapts to the real estate markets and middle-to-low-income providers, who are the majority in Latin American cities. In these contexts, platforms are built that allow for economic returns with housing often in precarious conditions. This dual condition underscores the specificity of intermediate Latin American cities within the broader debate on platform urbanism, showing that financialization and commodification are not uniform processes but are shaped through locally embedded socio-spatial trajectories.

Valparaíso contributes a distinctive perspective to the regional literature on platform urbanism. Unlike global metropolitan centers where corporate landlords dominate, or smaller heritage cities where tourism is the overwhelming driver, Valparaíso embodies an intermediate condition: a UNESCO World Heritage city marked by depopulation, economic stagnation, and selective tourist renewal. In this setting, short-term rental dynamics reveal how digital platforms intersect simultaneously with processes of touristification and with precarious household strategies for income generation.

Future research should further investigate host motivations, the long-term sustainability of these practices, and their gendered and generational dimensions, as well as their potential to either reinforce or challenge existing patterns of inequality. In addition, future studies should analyze more directly the specific impacts of short-term rental platforms on Valparaíso’s housing system, particularly their interaction with processes of depopulation, selective renewal, and housing precarity, and explore their implications for affordability, neighborhood change, and long-term residential stability.

5. Conclusions

What Sadowski (2020) [3] terms “financial-informational domination” is evident in how platforms structure rental markets, algorithmically determine visibility and pricing, and ultimately shape who can live, and under what conditions, in commodified urban spaces. These findings underscore the importance of analyzing short-term rentals not only through the lens of tourism but also in relation to housing access and urban inequality. This raises key questions: What is the real economic contribution of Airbnb to households that participate in it? How do hosts interpret and position themselves within the so-called collaborative economy? And, in the context of Chile’s ongoing housing crisis—where 552,046 new homes are required and more than one million need improvements to what extent might these platforms exacerbate or mitigate existing pressures?

Valparaíso offers a distinctive perspective on the regional literature of platform urbanism. Unlike global metropolitan centers where corporate landlords dominate, or smaller heritage cities where tourism is the overwhelming driver, Valparaíso embodies an intermediate condition: a UNESCO World Heritage city marked by depopulation, economic stagnation, and selective tourist renewal. In this setting, short-term rental dynamics reveal how digital platforms intersect with both processes of touristification and precarious household strategies for income generation. This dual condition underscores the specificity of intermediate Latin American cities within the broader debate on platform urbanism, showing that financialization and commodification are not uniform processes but are shaped through locally embedded socio-spatial trajectories. While previous research in Latin America has largely focused on metropolitan cases such as Buenos Aires, Mexico City, or São Paulo, as well as smaller heritage cities like Cuenca, Valparaíso exemplifies a different configuration, an intermediate city with both heritage designation and structural fragilities. By situating Valparaíso within this comparative framework, the study helps fill a significant gap in regional scholarship, highlighting how platform-mediated short-term rentals operate not only in contexts of global tourism but also in cities facing depopulation, selective renewal, and persistent housing precarity. This positions Valparaíso as a valuable lens for extending debates on platform urbanism and housing financialization in Latin America. In Latin America, in a context of a housing crisis driven by structural social inequality and the growing financialization of housing, studying the impact of Airbnb and other housing platforms becomes necessary.