A new report has been produced for Friends of the Earth by Professor Julian Agyeman, Duncan McLaren and Adrianne Schaefer-Borrego

The report, ‘Sharing Cities’, outlines a new sustainability paradigm which seeks to build coalitions for urban justice. The take home message, as Professor Agyeman highlights, is:

A reinvention and revival of sharing in our cities could enhance equity, rebuild community and dramatically cut resource use. With modern technologies, the intersection of urban space and cyber-space provides an unsurpassed platform for a more inclusive and environmentally efficient sharing economy.

Drawing on examples from Medellin in Colombia to Copenhagen in Denmark, the report has four sections:

1 what is currently - or could be - shared;
2 why is sharing desirable;
3 what enables and drives sharing; and
4 what opportunities are there to both enhance sharing and overcome barriers
to it?

Through appealing for the ‘right to the city’ the report supports the Greater Manchester Local Interaction Platform’s 2012 report, ‘Mapping the Urban Knowledge Arena’ which also argues for a new form of sustainable urbanism in which the knowledge, skills, values and rights of citizens take centre stage.