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Sharing economy vs sharing cultures? Designing for social, economic and environmental good

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 00:18 authored by Ann LightAnn Light, Clodagh Miskelly
This paper explores the story behind a crowdfunding service as an example of sharing technology. Research in a small neighborhood of London showed how locally-developed initiatives can differ in tone, scale, ambition and practice to those getting attention in the so-called sharing economy. In local accounts, we see an emphasis on organizing together to create shared spaces for collaborative use of resources and joint ownership of projects and places. Whereas, many global business models feature significant elements of renting, leasing and hiring and focus only on resource management, sometimes at the expense of community growth. The service we discuss is based in the area we studied and has a collective model of sharing, but hopes to be part of the new global movement. We use this hybridity to problematize issues of culture, place and scalability in developing sharing resources and addressing sustainability concerns. We relate this to the motivation, rhetoric and design choices of other local sharing enterprises and other global sharing economy initiatives, arguing, in conclusion, that there is no sharing economy, but a variety of new cultures being fostered.

Funding

EPSRC Digital Economy’s Sustainable Society Network+; EPSRC; EP/K003593/1

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

Interaction Design and Architecture(s)

ISSN

1826-9745

Publisher

Roma

Issue

Spring

Volume

24

Page range

49-62

Department affiliated with

  • Engineering and Design Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-02-15

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-02-15

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-02-14

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