Sharing economy, collaborative consumption or ‘peer-to-peer-based sharing’ is growing, and its potential is much bigger than Airbnb and Uber. We asked Anders Kristoffersson, senior lecturer in Business Economics and researcher in co-management and sharing of outdoor environment, to tell about the project Sharing Cities Sweden.
Hello Anders, you are a researcher at SLU, Alnarp and involved in the project Sharing Cities Sweden - what is this project about?
– Sharing Cities Sweden will develop world-leading test-beds for the sharing economy in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Umeå. Through test-beds, sharing services and digital solutions will be developed. The opportunities and risks of the sharing economy will be tested and evaluated.
The project is led by The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) and SLU is part of the Malmö test bed.
What is SLU's and your role in this collaboration?
– My role in the project, as an SLU researcher, is to analyze and facilitate the sharing activities in the Sege Park testbed in Malmö. The project is to develop a new city area aiming at very high levels of sustainability in a very green location with good public transport. Sege Park is in the planning phase and in the early dialogue between the parties. The dialogue is led by Malmö City and Oscar Pelin, as the local project leader, is organizing the dialogue between the 13 exploiting companies who will build apartments with different forms of ownership. At the moment we have a list including more than 60 ideas of sharing developed by the parties in cooperation and I investigate how the cooperation between all parties can be organized now and in the future to manage the sharing activities.
What kind of impact does this project have on the local community and sustainable urban development more generally?
– The sharing services that will be developed in the test-beds will relate to 1) utilization of spaces (premises, housing, green infrastructure, shared public space etc.) and 2) utilization of goods and services (tools, clothing, toys, handicrafts, etc.). Transport and mobility are included to a certain extent. Sharing services should contribute to reduced energy and climate impact and sustainable development, but also promote social sustainability in the city. In a specific testbed like Sege Park there will be a focus to enhance the local sharing economy within the specific city part. The sharing services should be innovative and contribute to a wide range of different types of services within the program.
