Digital platforms, regulatory planning and heritisation: Airbnb and discourses around courtyard houses in the medina of Tunis (2011 to 2024)

Abstract

This paper is concerned with historic houses in the old city or médina of Tunis as sites of memory. We take three case studies of courtyard houses (diyar, sing. dar) which were restored or adapted for use as guest accommodation in the 2010s. While the sample is small allows us to explore some of the main features of the discourses of belonging developed around the historic house in old Tunis. Such guest accommodation can now be seen across the world thanks to digital service platforms like AirBnB. Our interviews with guesthouse owners suggest a strong intellectual and emotional commitment is present in the restoration and reuse of a history property. While digital platforms are importants as sites via which individuals can communicate ideas about the built heritage of a city, there are other important discourses underlying the veneer. The paper thus reveals how family pasts are important in a form of activist engagement with a particular city’s past.