Welcome!
This room is your quick quide into the collaborative and sharing economy. Have a look around and find the world’s key information on definitions and market developments. When you are fully up to speed with the phenomenon you can take a first dive into the key opportunities and challenges. Before heading into the other market and topic specific rooms, you could have a quick look at what other cities are doing. Together we are moving towards our future cities where all citizens have access to everything they need to live a happy, connected and a sustainable live.
There is no single definition for the sharing economy. To get a grip on the phenomenon you can find an introductory video by Rachel Botsman, a range of definitions and key research papers about the sharing economy in this room.
The sharing economy has emerged as an innovative exchange model that is disrupting traditional market exchanges. In this part we'll discuss the past, current and future market developments of this sector.
The rapid growth of commercial sharing platforms such as Airbnb and Uber, the growing number of economic sectors affected, and conflicting interests among involved stakeholders have made the sharing economy a disputed topic full of (political) controversies and legal questions. Should sharing activities be monitored closely with strict regulations? Or should the invisible hand determine direction of the market? What exactly is the role of the government? What is going on in other cities? What can be done? This part provides information on the challenges and helps cities to rethink traditional regulation and policies and experiment with new approaches.
The sharing economy is full of opportunities: it has the potential to facilitate effective and sustainable sharing of (scarce) resources, allows cheaper and easier access to goods and services, increase safety, social engagement and cohesion. This part provides information on the endless opportunities and helps cities unlock the underutilized potential of cities and solve global and urban challenges together.