Short CV
- since 2025: PhD candidate at the Institute of European Urban Studies (Bauhaus -Universität Weimar), scholarship of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation.
- 2021 – 2024 – M.Sc. European Urban Studies at Bauhaus Universität Weimar, thesis “Assessing the Impact of Airbnb on the Warsaw Rental Housing Market: The Role of the Short-Term Rental Market in a Housing Crisis”
- 2018–2019: Postgraduate Diploma in City Planning, University of Glasgow.
- 2017 – 2018 – English Teacher, Sachkhere Georgia
- 2013–2017: B.A. Social Anthropology, Queen’s University Belfast.
Research focus
- Platform urbanism and the digital mediation of housing
- Post-socialist housing
- Anthropological approaches to housing
- Regulatory evasion and legal geography
Current Research
This PhD research investigates the phenomenon of short-term rental arbitrage—where individuals lease properties on long-term rental contracts and sublet them on short-term rental platforms like Airbnb to profit from price differentials. Despite its prevalence in housing markets globally (Swigunski, 2021; AirDNA, 2024), this practice remains unexplored in academic literature.
Drawing on Maalsen’s (2022, 2023) concept of urban hacking—which views regulatory exploitation as an adaptive and opportunistic response to vulnerabilities within urban systems—the study analyses how Airbnb arbitrageurs creatively navigate and exploit gaps in housing regulations to maximise financial gain. Kusiak’s (2021, 2023) theory of reverse legal engineering further guides the investigation by critically examining these strategies to inform more effective and equitable housing policies. The research engages with ongoing debates on the commodification of housing (Rogers, 2017), the digitization of urban governance (Kitchin & Dodge, 2011), and the effects of platform economies on urban spaces (Srnicek, 2017). While existing literature has largely focused on the impacts of short-term rentals and those affected (Fields, 2019; Beswick et al., 2016), this study centres on the overlooked practices of small-scale actors like Airbnb hosts and arbitrageurs on housing regulation. The research engages with ongoing debates on the commodification of housing (Rogers, 2017), the digitization of urban governance (Kitchin & Dodge, 2011), and the effects of platform economies on urban spaces (Srnicek, 2017). While existing literature has largely focused on the impacts of short-term rentals and those affected (Fields, 2019; Beswick et al., 2016), this study centres on the overlooked practices of small-scale actors like Airbnb hosts and arbitrageurs on housing regulation. Using a mixed-methods qualitative approach—including in-depth interviews, participant observation, and digital ethnography—this study examines Airbnb arbitrage in Warsaw and Bucharest, two cities with favourable regulatory environments that make them attractive to property entrepreneurs. Both cities are frequently discussed in Airbnb arbitrage forums due to their lenient tax policies and minimal regulations on short-term rentals. The research also explores the global online culture surrounding arbitrage, investigating how platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Reddit facilitate knowledge exchange and promote entrepreneurial ideologies that encourage regulatory evasion.
The findings hope to offer insights for policymakers and housing advocates to develop more effective responses to the challenges posed by digital disruption in urban housing markets, ultimately aiming to promote more equitable urban housing outcomes.