Team Publications 2018-2023

2023 PUBLICATIONS

Voytenko Palgan, Y., Mont, O. (Forthcoming 2023). Share and Repair in Cities: Agenda for Research and Practice on Circular Urban Resilience. In McKormick, K., Evans, J., Voytenko Palgan, Y. and Frantzeskaki, N. (Eds) Research Agenda on Sustainable Cities and Communities, Edward Elgar Publishing.

Voytenko Palgan, Y., Mont, O. (Forthcoming 2023). Municipal Governance of the Sharing Economy Sectors: Global Insights.

2022 PUBLICATIONS

Arbelaez Velez, Ana Maria (2022). ”Economic impacts, carbon footprint and rebound effects of car sharing: Scenario analysis assessing Business-to-Consumer and Peer-to-Peer car sharing”. I Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2022.

2021 PUBLICATIONS

Plepys, A. and Arbelaez, A. (2021). The environmental implications of car-sharing. In: Sigler, T. and Corcoran, J. (Eds). A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Abstract: The chapter on the environmental implications of car-sharing presents the different schemes of car-sharing and the changes in travelling habits induced by these ways of transport. It discusses the state of the current knowledge in environmental evaluations of this mobility practice, and presents knowledge gaps. It is evident that the majority of studies focus on direct effects of car-sharing, and how it affects personal mobility in terms of private car ownership, travel distances and travel modes. On the contrary, the indirect environmental implications of car-sharing are rarely discussed. An important issue is how the participation in car sharing schemes affects users’ disposable incomes and how their consumption patterns are modified due to their engagement in car-sharing. This shows that there is a need to develop assessment methods that capture in a holistic way the changes caused due to car-sharing and thereafter its environmental implications. The sustainability of car-sharing is context dependent. However, car-sharing schemes are sustainable when they enable reduced vehicle ownership and shifts towards low carbon transport modes.

Zvolska, L. (2021). The Sharing Economy in Cities. Institutionalisation and Sustainability. Lund University, PhD thesis.

Abstract: The sharing economy is a novel way of distributing physical resources facilitated by online platforms where temporary access is given to goods owned by peers or organisations. It has become prominent in urban areas where a large accumulation of resources in close proximity and the ubiquity of information and communications technology enable it to grow. Its emergence has had various impacts on existing urban systems that are essential for the well-functioning of cities. There is therefore value in exploring its institutionalisation in specific urban contexts. This PhD dissertation aims to advance understanding on (i) how two key actor groups, urban sharing organisations and municipal governments, work to shape the development of the sharing economy in cities, and (ii) which sustainability claims they use to shape this process. The study draws on 150 interviews with key sharing economy actors collected during mobile research labs in six cities: London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Malmö, San Francisco, and Toronto. The research gaps are further assessed by combining four theoretical angles: institutional work, governance theory, framing theory, and sustainability science. It was found that urban sharing organisations engage in both institutional creation and disruption when attempting to institutionalise sharing practices in cities. These modes of institutional work vary among the different organisations, and impact which sharing practices become institutionalised and which existing institutions become disrupted. As a response to the emergence of the sharing economy in cities, municipal governments have developed a portfolio of governance mechanisms. When they steer the development of urban sharing organisations, they engage in outward governance. When they define who they are in relation to the sharing economy, and direct their efforts towards their own actions, it is referred to as inward governance. Often, urban sharing organisations and municipal governments use sustainability framings to co-create the sharing economy in cities. These framings are also explored in this thesis. The study underlines that the diversity of sharing economy business models, existing institutional arrangements in cities, urban sustainability issues, and institutional work of key actors are some of the key factors influencing institutionalisation of the sharing economy in cities. These factors also determine how the sharing economy will impact urban sustainability in the future.