Sharing cities: genesis and critical reflection of a promising city label

Abstract

“Sharing cities” has recently emerged as a promising label to promote collaborative resource sharing in urban areas, with cities like Seoul, San Francisco, and Amsterdam adopting sharing policies to enhance sustainability, community empowerment, and quality of life. However, what constitutes a “sharing/shared city” and the contribution of sharing practices to inclusive, sustainable city development remains ambiguous, with unintended outcomes often unexplored. From a reflexive governance perspective, this chapter explores assumptions, expectations, and interpretations regarding the consequences of sharing practices, how these outcomes are addressed in governance, and what prompts reflexivity on both the outcomes and the processes. Drawing on policy documents and qualitative interviews with planners, policymakers, housing companies, and civil society in Vienna, Uppsala, Berlin, Kassel, and Stuttgart, the study identifies three forms of reflexivity: (1) tradition triggered, by long-standing governance traditions; (2) externally triggered, by issues like Airbnb nuisances; and (3) endogenously triggered, embedded in urban initiatives’ practices.