Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy

Providing a comprehensive overview of the urban sharing economy, this Modern Guide takes a forward-looking perspective on how sharing goods and services may facilitate future sustainability of consumption and production. It highlights recent developments and issues, with cutting-edge discussions from leading international scholars in business, engineering, environmental management, geography, law, planning, sociology and transport studies.

A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy begins with basic concepts and definitions, providing broad context with a focus on shifting service modalities, regulatory frameworks, and a historical overview of how sharing came to be a staple feature of the economies of contemporary cities. The second section focusses on shared mobility, with a particular lens on micromobility, parking, ride-hailing, car-sharing and ride-sharing. The third section focusses on shared space, including coworking office spaces and short-term rentals, as well as shared goods and services, including streaming music services, clothing rental services, food sharing and tool libraries. The book concludes by outlining the key ethical challenges that face the sharing economy.

Real-world case studies are presented from authors in more than a dozen countries, making this a helpful and invigorating read for scholars of the sharing economy, urban studies and sustainable development. A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy is likely to also be of interest to those studying urban planning, human geography, and other disciplines focussing on the future of planetary urbanisation.