About Urban Sharing Project

Urban sharing of assets has emerged as a prospective solution to sustainability challenges faced by cities. However, its sustainability potential and institutionalisation pathways have not been systematically examined. This research programme aims to examine, test and advance knowledge about design, sustainability of practices and institutionalisation pathways of urban sharing organisations across 5 cities – Amsterdam, Toronto, Shanghai, Melbourne and Seoul. The research conflates organisational, institutional and sustainability sciences.

context counts

In these cities, the research team will explore the contexts in which sharing takes place. This approach will seek to comprehend the situations necessary for sharing to prosper and proliferate by understanding the successes and failures of urban sharing organisations in our case cities. A framework and toolbox will be developed to be shared with politicians and practitioners, with the hope to normalise sharing in cities as a means to improve resource efficiency and social cohesion.

We utilise Mobile Research Lab as a methodology, developed as a method to quickly infiltrate a city context by conducting study visits, observations, interviews and experiments in a semi-structured approach. This method allows researchers to capture a fast-paced, all-encompassing snap-shot of the particular area of interest. In 2018-2023, the research team will plan to visit each city during a one-week intensive visit, which will require months of planning and coordination ahead of time to ensure a robust and worthwhile Mobile Research Lab.