Far from a touchy-feely community, research shows online platforms such as Airbnb tend to strengthen users’ narcissism and class biases.
Instead of owning physical copies of DVDs or CDs, for example, people subscribe to streaming services, allowing them to access a wide range of products without the burden of traditional ownership.
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These days people prefer to simply have access to goods and services, rather than outright owning them. But what does this mean for the future of consumerism?
Research reveals a complicated relationship between surveillance and freedom, as surveillance activities allow for greater autonomy for women hoping to work in Jordan.
About 4% of Australian housing stock has been or is listed on Airbnb. The number of listings continues to grow, with a shift towards more professional managers of listed properties.
Studies have shown that people perceive, select and evaluate shared experiences in a similar way to commercial offers.
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The sharing economy is often romanticised as a shift away from the evils of capitalism to a more communal and socially conscious way of life. But is this simply clever marketing?
Private cars with built-in sharing technology will soon be available in Australia.
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Car sharing is an important component of any transition towards a more sustainable transport system, but the practice has had some teething issues in Australia.
Many people take Uber not just because they want a ride, but because they want to contribute to a social good.
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More people are choosing to work in shared spaces, and there are many benefits of this to the local economy, as well as downsides. Local governments should work with both.
People are alarmed about Airbnb’s impacts, but these are far from uniform across the city.
Justin Lane/EPA
The patterns of Airbnb listings in Australia’s biggest cities suggest impacts on rental housing are likely to be biggest in high-end areas that appeal to tourists. Low-income areas are less affected.
Online drivers work independently. But to improve their working conditions, drivers need to organise collectively.
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Drivers for online ride-hailing services face several social conditions that may challenge their efforts to transform collective action into a solid union.
Four major disruptions of urban transport are set to transform city life, but exactly how remains uncertain.
Taras Makarenko/Pexels
Self-driving, shared, electric vehicles and increasing urban density represent four disruptions that will transform city life. But a transport utopia isn’t a guaranteed outcome of their interactions.
The view of Cartagena, Colombia from Tierra Bomba. Despite being one of the most visited cities in South America, Tierra Bomba remains highly impoverished. Why doesn’t large-scale tourism benefit such a community?
Carter Hunt
At many popular destinations, residents are protesting against crowding, rowdy visitors and low wages. With some research, travelers can use their visits to enrich host areas instead of harming them.
We need to look behind the sharing economy’s apparently informal, casual intent to consider the impacts on people’s lives.
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In cities dominated by globalised market forces, how can we achieve social equity and justice? For any sharing economy idea, we need to ask what will it do to fix the big problems confronting us all.
Riders on San Francisco’s Muni light rail system.
David Lytle
Junfeng Jiao, The University of Texas at Austin; Juan Miró, The University of Texas at Austin, and Nicole McGrath, The University of Texas at Austin
Millions of Americans rely on public transit to get to school, work or stores, but many can’t get the service they need. ‘Uberizing’ transit by offering more options on demand could fill the gaps.