Authors: Pablo Munoz and Boyd Cohen
Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile, EADA Business School Barcelona, Spain, Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Published on: October 2016 in Journal of Cleaner Production
Why did we select this research?
The research highlights 18 different sharing economy projects around the globe and proposes a Sharing Cities-Sustainable Consumption and Production typology. More specific, it develops a better understanding of the role the sharing economy can have to accelerate sustainable consumption and production patterns in cities. The typology and insights can be used as a tool to support policy development.
Key findings
The 18 studied sharing activities demonstrate that sustainable consumption and production activities can be described as a hybrid of both consumption and production.
Particularly in the context of the sharing economy, there are a growing number of activities which involve users collaborating for the purposes of sustainable consumption and production together. These so-called “maker communities” bring user communities together to co-design, co-finance, co-produce, co-distribute and consume collectively or individually. These hybrid activities challenge established institutions, could be very disruptive to incumbent industries and have the potential to transform local economies in innovative and more sustainable ways.
Reference
Cohen, B., & Muñoz, P. (2016). Sharing cities and sustainable consumption and production: towards an integrated framework. Journal of Cleaner Production, 134, 87-97. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652615010641
