Sharing Cities Shaping Cities

The sharing economy and collaborative consumption are attracting a great deal of interest due to their business, legal and civic implications. The consequences of the spreading of practices of sharing in urban environments and under daily dynamics are underexplored. This Special Issue aims to address if and how sharing shapes cities, the way that spaces are designed and lived in if social interactions are escalated, and the ways that habits and routines take place in post-individualistic society. In particular, the following key questions are of primary interest: Urban fabric: How is ‘sharing’ shaping cities? Does it represent a paradigm shift with tangible and physical reverberations on urban form? How are shared mobility, work, inhabiting reconfiguring the urban and social fabric? Social practices: Are new lifestyles and practices related to sharing changing the use and design of spaces? To what extent is sharing triggering a production and consumption paradigm shift to be reflected in urban arrangements and infrastructures? Sustainability: Does sharing increase the intensity of use of space and assets, or, rather, does it increase them to meet the expectations of convenience for urban lifestyles? To what extent are these phenomena fostering more economically-, socially-, and environmentally-sustainable practices and cities? Policy: How can policy makers and municipalities interact with these bottom-up and phenomena and grassroots innovation to create more sustainable cities? Scholars responded to the above questions from the fields of urban studies, urban planning and design, sociology, geography, theoretically-grounded and informed by the results of fieldwork activities.

The sharing economy and collaborative consumption are attracting a great deal of interest due to their business, legal and civic implications. The consequences of the spreading of practices of sharing in urban environments and under daily dynamics are underexplored. This Special Issue aims to address if and how sharing shapes cities, the way that spaces are designed and lived in if social interactions are escalated, and the ways that habits and routines take place in post-individualistic society. In particular, the following key questions are of primary interest: Urban fabric: How is 'sharing' shaping cities? Does it represent a paradigm shift with tangible and physical reverberations on urban form? How are shared mobility, work, inhabiting reconfiguring the urban and social fabric? Social practices: Are new lifestyles and practices related to sharing changing the use and design of spaces? To what extent is sharing triggering a production and consumption paradigm shift to be reflected in urban arrangements and infrastructures? Sustainability: Does sharing increase the intensity of use of space and assets, or, rather, does it increase them to meet the expectations of convenience for urban lifestyles? To what extent are these phenomena fostering more economically-, socially-, and environmentally-sustainable practices and cities? Policy: How can policy makers and municipalities interact with these bottom-up and phenomena and grassroots innovation to create more sustainable cities? Scholars responded to the above questions from the fields of urban studies, urban planning and design, sociology, geography, theoretically-grounded and informed by the results of fieldwork activities.

Urban greening policies and measures have recently shown a high potential impact on the design and reshaping of the built environment, especially in urban regeneration processes. This book provides insights on analytical methods, planning strategies and shared governance tools for successfully integrating Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in the urban planning practice. The selected contributions present real-life application cases, in which the mainstreaming of NBS are investigated according to two main challenges: the planning and designing of physical and spatial integration of NBS in cities on one side, and the implementation of suitable shared governance models and co-creation pathways on the other. Chapter 5 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The future of humanity is urban, and the nature of urban space enables, and necessitates, sharing -- of resources, goods and services, experiences. Yet traditional forms of sharing have been undermined in modern cities by social fragmentation and commercialization of the public realm. In Sharing Cities, Duncan McLaren and Julian Agyeman argue that the intersection of cities' highly networked physical space with new digital technologies and new mediated forms of sharing offers cities the opportunity to connect smart technology to justice, solidarity, and sustainability. McLaren and Agyeman explore the opportunities and risks for sustainability, solidarity, and justice in the changing nature of sharing. McLaren and Agyeman propose a new "sharing paradigm," which goes beyond the faddish "sharing economy" -- seen in such ventures as Uber and TaskRabbit -- to envision models of sharing that are not always commercial but also communal, encouraging trust and collaboration. Detailed case studies of San Francisco, Seoul, Copenhagen, Medellín, Amsterdam, and Bengaluru (formerly Bangalore) contextualize the authors' discussions of collaborative consumption and production; the shared public realm, both physical and virtual; the design of sharing to enhance equity and justice; and the prospects for scaling up the sharing paradigm though city governance. They show how sharing could shift values and norms, enable civic engagement and political activism, and rebuild a shared urban commons. Their case for sharing and solidarity offers a powerful alternative for urban futures to conventional "race-to-the-bottom" narratives of competition, enclosure, and division.

Does planning in contested cities inadvertedly make the divisions worse? The 60s and 70s saw a strong role of planning, social engineering, etc but there has since been a move towards a more decentralised ‘community planning’ approach. The book examines urban planning and policy in the context of deeply contested space, where place identity and cultural affinities are reshaping cities. Throughout the world, contentions around identity and territory abound, and in Britain, this problem has found recent expression in debates about multiculturalism and social cohesion. These issues are most visible in the urban arena, where socially polarised communities co-habit cities also marked by divided ethnic loyalties. The relationship between the two is complicated by the typical pattern that social disadvantage is disproportionately concentrated among ethnic groups, who also experience a social and cultural estrangement, based on religious or racial identity. Navigating between social exclusion and community cohesion is essential for the urban challenges of efficient resource use, environmental enhancement, and the development of a flourishing economy. The book addresses planning in divided cities in a UK and international context, examining cities such as Chicago, hyper-segregated around race, and Jerusalem, acting as a crucible for a wider conflict. The first section deals with concepts and theories, examining the research literature and situating the issue within the urban challenges of competitiveness and inclusion. Section 2 covers collaborative planning and identifies models of planning, policy and urban governance that can operate in contested space. Section 3 presents case studies from Belfast, Chicago and Jerusalem, examining both the historical/contemporary features of these cities and their potential trajectories. The final section offers conclusions and ways forward, drawing the lessons for creating shared space in a pluralist cities and addressing cohesion and multiculturalism. • Addresses important contemporary issue of social cohesion vs. urban competitiveness • focus on impact of government policies will appeal to practitioners in urban management, local government and regeneration • Examines role of planning in cities worldwide divided by religion, race, socio-economic, etc • Explores debate about contested space in urban policy and planning • Identifies models for understanding contested spaces in cities as a way of improving effectiveness of government policy

The topic of streets and street design is of compelling interest today as public officials, developers, and community activists seek to reshape urban patterns to achieve more sustainable forms of growth and development. Streets and the Shaping of Towns and Cities traces ideas about street design and layout back to the early industrial era in London suburbs and then on through their institutionalization in housing and transportation planning in the United States. It critiques the situation we are in and suggests some ways out that are less rigidly controlled, more flexible, and responsive to local conditions. Originally published in 1997, this edition includes a new introduction that addresses topics of current interest including revised standards from the Institute of Transportation Engineers; changes in city plans and development standards following New Urbanist, Smart Growth, and sustainability principles; traffic calming; and ecologically oriented street design.

Disruptive Urbanism examines how different forms and modes of the so called "sharing economy" are manifesting in cities and regions throughout the world, and how policy makers are responding to these disruptions. The emergence of the so called "sharing economy" and the "disruptive technologies" have profound implications for urban policy and governance. Initial expectations that "sharing" of homes, offices or vehicles could solve urban problems such as congestion or housing affordability have given way to concerns over job precarity, neighbourhood transformation, and the growing power of platforms in disrupting urban governance and regulation. Contributors to this volume canvas these issues, examining how the "sharing economy" is manifesting in urban areas, the implications of this for urban living, and how policy makers are responding to these changes. Implications for urban research, policy, and practice are highlighted through chapters which address forms of urban "sharing" across housing, transport, work, and food and wider processes of globalisation and neoliberalism as they disrupt cities and urban policy making. Disruptive Urbanism will be of great interest to scholars of urban planning, urban governance, the sharing economy, and housing studies. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Urban Policy and Research.