Short-Term Rentals Under Research Radar: A Critical Scoping Review of Key Factors, Impacts, and Regulations

Short-Term Rentals Under Research Radar: A Critical Scoping Review of Key Factors, Impacts, and Regulations | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Short-Term Rentals Under Research Radar: A Critical Scoping Review of Key Factors, Impacts, and Regulations Susana Herrero Ballesta, Sahar Nasri, Maryam Kazemi, Hamidreza Rabiei-Dastjerdi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8708511/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This critical scoping review examines how short-term rentals (STRs) have transformed urban tourism research and proposes an integrated sustainability framework bridging economic, social, spatial, and governance dimensions. Building on PRISMA-ScR guidelines, it systematically maps 161 studies published between 2009 and 2025, identifying key patterns in the economic, environmental, spatial, and regulatory analysis of STRs. The findings reveal that while STRs foster tourism growth and local development, they also exacerbate housing unaffordability, gentrification, and overtourism. The literature remains dominated by data-driven methods, spatial analysis, econometric modelling, and machine learning yet exhibits strong geographic biases and limited integration across disciplines. Results highlight the growing professionalisation of hosts, the role of digital technologies in reshaping governance, and the urgent need for adaptive, sustainability-oriented regulation. By consolidating fragmented debates, this review offers a multidimensional synthesis that informs smart city planning, digital governance, and the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals in contemporary tourism destinations. Hospitality and Tourism Urban Studies City Management and Urban Policy Short-term rentals Sustainable tourism Gentrification Regulation Smart cities Spatial analysis Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8708511","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Systematic Review","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":581033767,"identity":"0fe4634e-182b-4acf-968f-e7e1d43b7e9a","order_by":0,"name":"Susana Herrero Ballesta","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3282-0989","institution":"University of Murcia (Spain)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Susana","middleName":"Herrero","lastName":"Ballesta","suffix":""},{"id":581033768,"identity":"57442462-392d-493c-ab2b-99eb7733a3af","order_by":1,"name":"Sahar Nasri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Isfahan (Iran)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sahar","middleName":"","lastName":"Nasri","suffix":""},{"id":581033769,"identity":"694975f6-628d-42a9-b01e-1a056445c92e","order_by":2,"name":"Maryam Kazemi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Maynooth University (Ireland)","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maryam","middleName":"","lastName":"Kazemi","suffix":""},{"id":581033771,"identity":"7bae95a5-4354-4f05-9558-4c37d0d2c45b","order_by":3,"name":"Hamidreza Rabiei-Dastjerdi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABBUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAyA+wANiMDMwHP75558cSPTAA6K1MDYcMAZrSSCghYEHymAGaklsAIng02LOfjrxwBuGe/Lm7MwHDxfuuJM+P+zwQ6AtdnK6Ddi1WPbkbjg4h6HYcGczW8LhmWee5W68nWYA1JJsbHYAh8MO5G44zMOQwAgkDQ7wsDHnbpydANJyIHEbLi3n34K12G84zP8BpCXdcHb6B/xabkBsSQSRh3nbDifIS+cQsOXGW6BfDBKSgX4xODjjTJrhBumcggMJBnj8cj5384c3FQm22/kPP/7wocJGXn52+mYgw04OlxaoRpQAQRchCOQbSFE9CkbBKBgFIwEAAI59bb4tBuimAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"Dublin City University (Ireland)","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hamidreza","middleName":"","lastName":"Rabiei-Dastjerdi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-27 09:46:03","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":{"humanSubjects":false,"vertebrateSubjects":false,"conflictsOfInterestStatement":false,"humanSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false,"humanSubjectConsent":false,"humanSubjectClinicalTrial":false,"humanSubjectCaseReport":false,"vertebrateSubjectEthicalGuidelines":false},"doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8708511/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8708511/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":101304749,"identity":"92df5916-2dfc-4cdf-9f7b-d4bddf8e7ad3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-28 10:03:04","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":929279,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ShortTermRentalsUnderResearchRadarACriticalScopingReviewofKeyFactorsImpactsandRegulations.Preprint.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8708511/v1_covered_44aa90e3-5685-4f83-ac58-d321ad1c96c8.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"The authors declare no competing interests.","formattedTitle":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eShort-Term Rentals Under Research Radar: A Critical Scoping Review of Key Factors, Impacts, and Regulations\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"Dublin City University","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Short-term rentals, Sustainable tourism, Gentrification, Regulation, Smart cities, Spatial analysis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8708511/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8708511/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis critical scoping review examines how short-term rentals (STRs) have transformed urban tourism research and proposes an integrated sustainability framework bridging economic, social, spatial, and governance dimensions. 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