Attributing and Defining an Unbuilt 1859 Architectural Plan for the Site of Trogir’s Medieval Walls

This paper discusses the attribution of an anonymous and unbuilt 1859 plan for a four-storey apartment building with commercial spaces on the ground floor, located on the site of the old town walls in Trogir. It proposes Josip Slade as the architect of the plan, interpreting Slade’s architectural language and the development of his approach to architectural heritage. An analysis of the project in a historical socio-political and spatial context, moreover, supports the conclusion that this was intended as rental property, and this paper therefore offers insights into the first known example of the tenement housing building typology in the nineteenth-century Trogir

A FORENSIC CASE STUDY: Human Factors Issues Involved in a Fall Down an Elevator Shaft

This case study involves a woman (Mrs. V) who was renting a beach property for a vacation with her family. The rental property included a residential elevator that connected the garage to the three different levels of the property. On the second night of the vacation, Mrs. V fell asleep on the first-floor couch. After waking in the early hours of the night, she went to utilize the first-floor restroom. After opening the door, she believed was the restroom, she stepped across the threshold. Unbeknownst to her, she had been able to open the elevator door and fell down the empty shaft. It was determined that a failed locking mechanism allowed her to access the elevator shaft without the car being at the same level. The Human Factors consultants had to address numerous factors including hazard management, warnings, human capabilities navigating in low-level lighting, and the effect of alcohol.

A new conceptual framework for memorable Airbnb experiences: guests’ perspectives

Purpose This qualitative study aims to explore the activities that guests perform while staying in Airbnbs, emotions associated with these experiences and the components of memorable Airbnb experiences. Design/methodology/approach An empirical study of a qualitative nature was conducted using a self-administered open-ended questionnaire among tourists who had stayed in an Airbnb in the past three years. Data were collected using two different sources for triangulation purposes, referred to as Studies 1 and 2. Findings Many respondents reported conducting similar activities while at home and while staying in an Airbnb, supporting Burch’s (1969) spill-over theory. Travellers mostly recalled mundane activities, such as cooking. The results suggest that the spill-over effect is more prevalent in the Airbnb context than in other accommodation types, as one often travels from one’s own home to another’s home. Respondents associated their Airbnb experience with the positive emotion of joy. Respondents mentioned numerous reasons for having felt joy during their Airbnb experiences, such as sharing the trip with travel companions and spending time with friends. Practical implications Airbnb should clearly define host’s tasks and responsibilities, hosts should treat guests in a friendly manner, which includes resolving any problems they face in relation to the rental property. Originality/value This paper proposes a new conceptual framework for a memorable Airbnb experience, which comprises several components: socialising and bonding with friends and family members, location, the host’s hospitality, a homely feeling, home amenities and negative experiences (the poor condition of the room and a dishonest host).

The Mayor Comes Over for Cannoli

This chapter looks at the de Blasio administration's active opposition to Daniel Garodnick's plan of homeownership for Stuyvesant Town. It emphasizes Garodnick's effort to persuade the mayor and his team that his plan of ownership made the most sense for the city. It also recounts how Mayor Bloomberg stayed on the sidelines back in 2006, signaling to MetLife and prospective bidders that it was simply a private transaction with no role for the city to play. The chapter details Garodnick's conversation with Emma Wolfe, one of the mayor's senior advisers, where he explained why it was important for the new mayor to do something in support of the tenants of Stuy Town in a more public way. It mentions Garodnick's hope that the new mayor connects his initiative with the plight of Stuy Town and the fight to save the largest middle-class rental property in America.

Users of Sharing Economy Platforms in Russia

The sharing economy phenomenon has become one of the main trends that influence customer behavior in many markets. The emergence of online service platforms allows individuals and businesses to share their unused or underutilized resources efficiently and expand the locus of value creation through platform ecosystems. The analysis shows that Russian users of the sharing economy platforms for the short-term rental housing find it necessary to have relevant price offers, diversity of hosting proposals, reasonable fees, the web-site quality including booking convenience, availability of feedback and reviews, quick application processing, and contact with the owners of rental property. Aside from the economic, social, and ecological factors mentioned above, the individual factors are proposed to be added to the analysis which will have a substantial impact on specifying target groups of Russian users of the sharing economy platforms.

The rental property market for commerce and services in historic centers in Brazil: the implications of innovative conservation and annilihating destruction on the prices of heritage assets

In view of the importance of the rental real estate property sector intended for tertiary activities in historic centers in Brazil, the intention of this article to draw an interpretative schema of the manner in which this market functions, based on the historic center of Recife, in the state of Pernambuco. This has been undertaken through an investigation into the conduct of its agents, who, at times, acted as though driven to preserve the historical values of heritage assets (innovative conservation), while at others, to destroy them and, thus, annihilate the values contained within them (annihilating destruction). For this, a need was perceived to analyze the relevance of land rent; the characteristics of the goods traded regarding heterogeneity and the prospects for increasing supply; the profile and level of information held by the agents, and their conduct in relation to these real assets and the rent prices offered on the market.

Betting on capital gains: housing speculation in Auckland, New Zealand

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine housing speculation in Auckland, New Zealand, the second most unaffordable market in the world. Design/methodology/approach The study considers rental property purchases from 2002 to 2016 within the Auckland region. The authors apply a simple cash flow model that emulates the before-tax investment calculations used during purchasers’ due diligence. From this model, the authors determine whether purchases involved speculation on capital gains or not and the authors estimate the degree of speculation at the transaction level. Findings The authors find that housing speculation in Auckland is endemic and its housing market is a politically condoned, finance-fuelled casino with investors broadly betting on tax-free capital gains. Social implications Although political leaders have decried that the “speculation-driven housing bubble in Auckland is a social and economic disaster”, the government’s main anti-speculation tool – the Income Tax Act’s intention test – sits idle and inoperable. By holstering this key policy tool, politicians foster housing speculation and use residential property investment to buttress New Zealand’s asset-based welfare system. Originality/value The authors develop novel methods to objectively distinguish speculators from genuine investors, measure the speculative pressure applied by individual rental property purchasers and outline an evidence-based approach to operationalise New Zealand’s currently impotent anti-speculation tool, the intention test.