Sharing by Design

This book answers the question of how to design a sharing system that can promote sustained, meaningful, and socially constructive sharing practices in today’s cities. To do so, it constructs a framework for practical inquiry into the design of sharing systems. 

Further, the book invites readers to consider questions such as: 

• If sharing can be designed, then how does one design a sharing system for cities? 
• Which urban conditions make this sharing system possible? 
• What are the considerations, variables, and methods that can inform and guide the designers    of a sharing system? 

By considering both the environmental and societal motivations for sharing, and the reality that most examples of the Sharing Economy are neither equitable in their socio-economic outcomes nor genuine in their original social promises, this book presents balanced and thoughtful answers to the questions posed above. 

The book will appeal to a broad readership, from students and teachers in the various design disciplines, to professionals and scholars in architecture and urbanism, business and innovation, and other related fields of the humanities and social sciences, as well as activists and policymakers committed to achieving more sustainable and equitably distributed access to urban resources. 

Introduction: What’s Wrong with ‘Sharing’ in the Sharing Economy?.- Why is Sharing Important Today?.- Sharing by Design: Urban Sharing and Shared Social Spaces.- How to Design a Sharing System: Variables, Specifications, and Methods.- Sustaining a Sharing System: Ethics of a Sharing System.- Teaching the Design of a Sharing System: System Thinking in Studio Pedagogy.- Conclusion.

Dr Jeffrey Chan received his Masters degree from Harvard university in 2004 and his PhD from University of California, Berkeley in 2009. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Singapore University of Technology & Design, and has taught courses in Design in the Anthropocene and Urban Studies. His main research focus is in design theory and urban planning in the context of cities.

Dr Ye Zhang is Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore. He holds a PhD in Architecture from the University of Cambridge (2014) and received M.Arch from Tsinghua University (2008). His principal research interest resides in urban morphology and more recently the relation between emerging sharing practices in the city and transformation of built form. He teaches in the area of architecture and urban design, urban design theories, and research methodology.  Dr Zhang and Dr Chan also co-edited a special issue on sharing spaces in the journal Built Environment.