Gothenburg
Gothenburg is known for its experimental culture, strong civil society and long tradition of left wing governments, all of which has influenced the sharing landscape in the city. There are many sharing organisations representing various sectors, most of which are community-based or municipally led ones. They include the sharing of consumer goods (e.g. bikes, clothes, toys, tools, and sports equipment), urban farming allotments, car rides and experiences. Very few of these include money transactions. They appear on the Smart Map with over 100 sharing initiatives in Gothenburg and its surroundings. The for-profit sharing organisations are less common in the city. Gothenburg municipality has actively engaged with the sharing concept since 2011. It is positive about the potential of sharing to help address urban sustainability challenges, and is supportive of community-based sharing initiatives.
City Strategies, Agenda and Position on Sharing
The “sharing economy” was included in the City budget in 2015, according to which the City should encourage its growth, if it is possible “to reduce environmental impacts, increase process efficiency and reduce costs.” The Consumer and Citizen Service Administration at the Gothenburg municipality works strategically to advance sharing in Gothenburg. In 2017, it put forward a vision for Gothenburg to become a Sharing City, which was based on the proposal voted by its citizens. The City of Gothenburg is part of the Sharing Cities Sweden, which is funded by Swedish Innovation Agency VINNOVA, Swedish Energy Agency and FORMAS. As part of this programme, the area of Södra Älvstranden is planned to be transformed from an industrial area into a living and sharing hub with sharing services in the bottom floors of the houses. The City of Gothenburg also supports the spread of bike kitchens and arenas for sharing consumer items. Together with an NGO “Collaborative Economy Gothenburg”, the City has created the Smart Map (http://smartakartan.se/) of 100+ sharing initiatives, and the partners are working to make it open source. The City is also a member of the Sharing Cities Alliance since 2017. Learn more at: http://www.leksaksbiblioteket.se/en/home/
MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE OF THE SHARING ECONOMY
Gothenburg uses most of the municipal governance mechanisms and roles, which indicates its active involvement in the sharing economy. Unlike Gothenburg, governing of sharing economy organisations in some cities (e.g., Toronto, Berlin, San Francisco) is rather reactive, i.e., they react when the problems arise and do not always perceive that the sharing economy can contribute to urban sustainability and local goals. In Sweden, the large commercial platforms Uber and Airbnb are regulated nationally. This enables the Cities of Gothenburg and Malmö to focus on the local, often small and more genuine sharing economy organisations that have greater potential to deliver environmental benefits and contribute to more democratic processes in society. Collaboration between cities and sharing economy organisations is often problematic due to the competition rules as municipalities cannot choose to collaborate with certain organisations but should instead treat all equally. A creative way for a city to become “a partner” is via various urban experiments where sharing services can be tested, e.g., the test beds in the Sharing Cities Sweden programme. The approach to how the sharing economy is governed differs in different cities. This is due to many factors including structural, political, economic, cultural and sustainability ones. Research in the Sharing and the City project shows that municipalities play a very important role in creating both infrastructure and culture in the city so that the circular and the sharing economy can grow and become institutionalised.
Read more about municipal governance of the sharing economy in Gothenburg here.
Mobile lab in gothenburg
Sharing and the City researcher Yuliya Voytenko Palgan organised a mobile research lab in Gothenburg on 16 October 2018. The purpose of the mobile research lab was to explore sharing services, politics and the development of the sharing economy in Gothenburg. Mobile research labs bring together a group of researchers and investigators who conduct interviews and site visits together following a structured process. During the mobile lab in Gothenburg, the team visited the Consumer and Citizen Service Administration at the City of Gothenburg and the City Hall, and went on a guided tour in the newly developed area, Södra Älvstranden. The team interviewed a founder of a bicycle repair workshop, the Bike Kitchen (Cykelköket), a civil servant and a leader of the Circular Gothenburg (Cirkulära Göteborg) project, a deputy-mayor of Gothenburg, and a founder of the platform for sharing of urban land for gardening (Grow Gothenburg). After the mobile lab, all participants documented and shared their reflections of the day, which formed the basis for this report.
Films
TOY LIBRARY - LEKSÄKBIBLIOTETEK
In average children have 536 toys each… But how many are actually used? By borrowing instead of buying we can save space, money, reduce resource use and generation of household waste. Toy Library (Leksaksbibliteket) in Gothenburg, Sweden, allows parents avoid unnecessary purchases and children try the toys and experiment. In this film Anna Martinez takes you on an excursion to the Toy Library.
SPORTING BANK - FRITIDSBANKEN
Sporting Bank (Fritidsbanken) is like a library stuffed with sports and leisure items. Here you can borrow equipment for an active leisure, such as skis, skates, roller-blades, life jackets, snowboards and much more. The loan period is 14 days. Today there are many Sporting Banks all over Sweden. The Fritidsbanken brand is owned by Fritidsbanken Sweden non-profit association, in which all the managers who run a local Fritidsbank are members. In this film Anna Martinez takes you on an excursion to Sporting Bank in Gothenburg. Learn more at: https://www.fritidsbanken.se/
MEET THE LOCALS
Would you like to explore the Swedish lifestyle from a local perspective? It is easier than you think to get close to the daily life in West Sweden. Meet the Locals platform helps you in this. Sharing is in the core of Meet the Locals ,and it comes in various forms: locals who share their hobby with visitors, or initiatives that reduce the use of resources by sharing or borrowing instead of buying. It can be a service for sharing a ride instead of traveling alone in a car, or when someone shares leftover fruit from their garden for someone else to enjoy. You can even pack light because there are great clothes by Swedish designers available for hire. Or choose to stay at someone’s house to see what a home can look like in this part of the world. In this film Anna Martinez helps you explore what Meet the Locals offers. Learn more at: https://meetthelocals.se/en/
THE SMART MAP - SMARTA KARTAN
Would you like to reduce environmental and social impacts from your consumption and develop a more sustainable lifestyle? Then Smarta Kartan (or The Smart Map) is for you! The Smart Map is a digital map that connects people with their communities, facilitates new meetings and promotes access over ownership. Instead of buying new things, one can rent, share, exchange, borrow, give and receive already produced items. And the Smart Map, which is a collection of different sharing initiatives on one map, is there to support you! On the Smart Map, you will find do-it-yourself workshops, clothes swopping days, free shops, carpool groups, shared office spaces and much more. You can even borrow a dance floor! In this film, Anna Martinez shows you around the Smart Map in Gothenburg. Learn more at: https://www.smartakartan.se/en/
reports and other outputs
sharing cities synthesis report
In April 2019, Sharing Cities Sweden published a synthesis report Sharing Cities: Exploring the Emerging Landscape of the Sharing Economy in Cities. It captures the lessons learned and ambitious goals of the test-beds in Stockholm, Malmö, Umeå and Göteborg. The document contains articles on the journeys of the test-beds, a discussion of designing test-beds as urban living labs, insights into governing sharing cities, and an overview of strategic thinking on sharing cities. Sharing and the City researcher Yuliya Voytenko Palgan contributed with expert note on the municipal governance of sharing.”
