Circular economy entails development of systems that go beyond the linear ‘take-make-dispose’ economic paradigm into a closed loop approach of material flows that maintains the value of resources in the economy. Creating circular economy (CE) inspired processes have been debated at different institutional and policy levels.
Although there are initiatives promoted by several cities, many of the proponent cities face common challenges of integrated guiding framework (both political and legal), limited awareness among citizens and technological barriers. Besides, environmental impacts of social consumption and urban planning initiatives have been poorly quantified to date.
Addressing these challenges is crucial for the framing, designing and the ultimate success of CE as an integrated urban planning solution for sustainable consumption and living. Zooming down to the Norwegian context – resource sharing, a growing world-wide phenomenon, has taken root in Norway as well. Shared mobility, such as car- and bike-sharing has been shown to offer access to families and other households who might not afford a private vehicle, and cuts across age, gender and life-stages [3,4]. But a thorough analysis of sharing schemes from a consumption and an integrated areal level perspective is largely lacking.
In this emerging trend of sharing, the integration of Residential Mobility Sharing (RMS) (e.g. bike, car and electric scooters) and different forms of Residential Space Sharing (RSS) (e.g. training rooms, common kitchens, coworking spaces, pop-up libraries), would be beneficial to the residential building community. Though shared mobility and sharing of services and resources has been studied, both consumption impacts of sharing and the spatial/place dimension of sharing remain largely unexplored.
The emerging forms of sharing are place-based since they generate sharing practices and activities in a defined physical space. This is valid for shared mobility as well (e.g. sharing hubs to pick up the car etc.). Thus, the spatial configuration and spatial proximity are key components of sharing and needs to be examined together, which brings residential area (neighbourhood) as an important planning unit for integrated residential shared solutions and revised consumptions.
RESHARE aims to strengthen our understanding of the development and promotion of sustainable consumption patterns in urban areas by producing novel insights and knowledge on i) how ‘shared’ qualities and characteristics of the built environment affect people’s consumption and sustainable behaviours, ii) how to develop and implement effective area development strategies, measures and policies that lead to more sharing and circularity of resources, iii) how current planning and decision-making processes must change to decrease consumption in our cities and promote plans with respect to sustainable consumption, and iv) how shared spaces and shared mobility can serve as an accelerator to achieve sustainable consumption in urban areas.
The objective of RESHARE is to identify the principles and practices for circular urban-transport planning and building projects with a specific focus on shared space and mobility. We will include the behavioral (sharing, inclusivity, responsibility), material (resource use, LCA, ecological footprint) and governance (cooperative, institutional and economic) aspects. In response to the societal and scientific challenges outlined here, the overall objective of RESHARE is to enable cities to plan and develop residential projects and transport systems in ways that encourage sharing, thereby cultivating sustainable, enduring consumptions behaviours.
Expected project detailing – we assume that, in addition to well-known functions (private parking areas, etc.), the ground floors of residential buildings will host new multifunctional shared spaces such as training areas, shared parking for electric bicycles/scooters, shared spaces for social gatherings, pop-up public libraries and areas of coworking (meeting rooms, shared offices or cubicles). In this context of revised consumption patterns, the micro-urban networks in local communities and new activities that can be concentrated in emerging shared spaces will be further examined, along with the role of shared spaces themselves and their use for short or prolonged time.
This phenomenon has not yet been analyzed in the context of existing urban policies and practices, nor with consideration to COVID-19 and its effects on use of shared spaces. People are looking for safe urban and vital neighborhoods (15’ city concept) to avoid long-distance commuting and crowded public transports, thus (controlled) shared mobility emerges as a viable alternative.
NMBU partner
External partners
Tanu Priya Uteng
Norwegian Centre for Transport Research (TØI)
Tel. 90533684Project Leader
Eivind Farstad
Norwegian Centre for Transport Research (TØI)
Tel. 95875911Project Leader
Cyriac George
Norwegian Centre for Transport Research (TØI)
Tel. 94899109Researcher
Fitwi Wolday
Norwegian Centre for Transport Research (TØI)
Tel. 99343293Researcher
Christin Krohn
Norwegian Centre for Transport Research (TØI
Tel. 98659325Researcher
Juha Peltomaa
Finnish Environment Institute
WP1 Leader
Jáchym Judl
Finnish Environment Institute
Researcher
Derk Loorbach
Dutch Research Institute for Transitions (DRIFT)
WP5 Leader
Håkon Iversen
Pådriv Oslo
Tel. 41660477WP3 Leader
Reshare Stakeholders
RESHARE aims to enable cities to plan and develop residential projects, urban spaces and mobility systems in ways that encourage sharing based on the principles of circular economy, contributing to sustainable consumption practices.
02 Jan 2022 - 02 Jan 2026