Object-Based Spatial Analysis of Airbnb Homes in Istanbul

Abstract

This study investigates the sociocultural and functional organization of residential interiors in Istanbul through an object-based spatial analysis. Utilizing a dataset of over 46,780 photographs from 1,968 Airbnb listings in Istanbul, the research employs computational methods, specifically web scraping with Python for data acquisition, and advanced computer vision and artificial intelligence models (MiniCPM-V:8B and LLaVA-Llama3:8B) for identifying objects and mapping their spatial relationships. The study aims to reveal how the interconnections between objects within distinct room types–dining room, kitchen, living room, bathroom, and bedroom–shape spatial integration and influence daily life activities. Key findings demonstrate the central role of the dining table in dining rooms through strong connections with chairs, the critical function of the sink in kitchens linked to preparation areas and appliances, the dominant relationship between the coffee table and sofa in living rooms reflecting comfort and social interaction, and the distinct functional priorities of hygiene in bathrooms and comfort in bedrooms. The analysis reveals that the spatial structure of domestic environments in Istanbul is increasingly characterized by object clusters and user-object interactions, moving beyond traditional physical boundaries. These findings underscore the significant influence of cultural values, hospitality practices, and social interaction patterns on the spatial configuration and integration of contemporary homes, offering insights into the evolving nature of domestic space in an urban context.

Received: 20 March 2025 | Revised: 23 June 2025 | Accepted: 11 July 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Author Contribution Statement

Mansur Beştaş: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.