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Urban sharing in smart cities : the cases of Berlin and London

Zvolska, Lucie LU ; Lehner, Matthias LU orcid ; Voytenko Palgan, Yuliya LU ; Mont, Oksana LU and Plepys, Andrius LU (2019) In Local Environment 24(7). p.628-645
Abstract

Addressing urban sustainability challenges requires changes in the way systems of provision and services are designed, organised and delivered. In this context, two promising phenomena have gained interest from the academia, the public sector and the media: “smart cities” and “urban sharing”. Smart cities rely on the extensive use of information and communications technology (ICT) to increase efficiencies in urban areas, while urban sharing builds on the collaborative use of idling resources enabled by ICT in densely populated cities. The concepts have many similar features and share common goals, yet cities with smart city agendas often fail to take a stance on urban sharing. Thus, its potentials are going largely unnoticed by local... (More)

Addressing urban sustainability challenges requires changes in the way systems of provision and services are designed, organised and delivered. In this context, two promising phenomena have gained interest from the academia, the public sector and the media: “smart cities” and “urban sharing”. Smart cities rely on the extensive use of information and communications technology (ICT) to increase efficiencies in urban areas, while urban sharing builds on the collaborative use of idling resources enabled by ICT in densely populated cities. The concepts have many similar features and share common goals, yet cities with smart city agendas often fail to take a stance on urban sharing. Thus, its potentials are going largely unnoticed by local governments. This article addresses this issue by exploring cases of London and Berlin – two ICT-dense cities with clearly articulated smart city agendas and an abundance of sharing platforms. Drawing on urban governance literature, we develop a conceptual framework that specifies the roles that cities assume when governing urban sharing: city as regulator, city as provider, city as enabler and city as consumer. We find that both cities indirectly support urban sharing through smart agenda programmes, which aim to facilitate ICT-enabled technical innovation and emergence of start-ups. However, programmes, strategies, support schemes and regulations aimed directly at urban sharing initiatives are few. We also find that Berlin is sceptical towards urban sharing organisations, while London took more of a collaborative approach. Implications for policy-makers are discussed in the end.

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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sharing economy, smart cities, sustainability, Urban governance, urban sharing
in
Local Environment
volume
24
issue
7
pages
18 pages
publisher
Carfax Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85045615531
ISSN
1354-9839
DOI
10.1080/13549839.2018.1463978
project
Urban Reconomy: sharing for circular resource efficiency
Urban Sharing: From excess economy to access economy
Sharing and the City
Urban Sharing: Sustainability and Institutionalisation Pathways
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cd420f4c-de7a-4547-87ae-87e158233a38
date added to LUP
2018-05-03 08:04:25
date last changed
2024-01-29 15:26:23
@article{cd420f4c-de7a-4547-87ae-87e158233a38,
  abstract     = {{<p>Addressing urban sustainability challenges requires changes in the way systems of provision and services are designed, organised and delivered. In this context, two promising phenomena have gained interest from the academia, the public sector and the media: “smart cities” and “urban sharing”. Smart cities rely on the extensive use of information and communications technology (ICT) to increase efficiencies in urban areas, while urban sharing builds on the collaborative use of idling resources enabled by ICT in densely populated cities. The concepts have many similar features and share common goals, yet cities with smart city agendas often fail to take a stance on urban sharing. Thus, its potentials are going largely unnoticed by local governments. This article addresses this issue by exploring cases of London and Berlin – two ICT-dense cities with clearly articulated smart city agendas and an abundance of sharing platforms. Drawing on urban governance literature, we develop a conceptual framework that specifies the roles that cities assume when governing urban sharing: city as regulator, city as provider, city as enabler and city as consumer. We find that both cities indirectly support urban sharing through smart agenda programmes, which aim to facilitate ICT-enabled technical innovation and emergence of start-ups. However, programmes, strategies, support schemes and regulations aimed directly at urban sharing initiatives are few. We also find that Berlin is sceptical towards urban sharing organisations, while London took more of a collaborative approach. Implications for policy-makers are discussed in the end.</p>}},
  author       = {{Zvolska, Lucie and Lehner, Matthias and Voytenko Palgan, Yuliya and Mont, Oksana and Plepys, Andrius}},
  issn         = {{1354-9839}},
  keywords     = {{sharing economy; smart cities; sustainability; Urban governance; urban sharing}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{7}},
  pages        = {{628--645}},
  publisher    = {{Carfax Publishing}},
  series       = {{Local Environment}},
  title        = {{Urban sharing in smart cities : the cases of Berlin and London}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2018.1463978}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/13549839.2018.1463978}},
  volume       = {{24}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}