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Deconsuming Vancouver : supporting shared work spaces in the city Lal, Sejal
Abstract
How can the City of Vancouver support and facilitate shared work spaces between businesses to help reduce overall resource use in the city? To help answer this question, I decided to look at the idea of shared work spaces in the broader context of the sharing economy. The sharing economy is an economic model based on the sharing of under-utilized assets, whether they are tangible (space, products, tools, etc.) or intangible (time, skills, services, etc.) commodities, directly with those with similar needs. The assets are shared between individuals, peer-to-peer search networks, or such as the case I address, shared between businesses. I interviewed 4 owners of shared work spaces within Vancouver, with questions pertaining to why they participate in shared work spaces, the ways by which their consumption of resources has decreased by engaging in shared spaces, and the challenges they have encountered in setting up and running their space. From the results, I found that the primary reasons the interviewees engage in shared spaces is not for reasons of sustainability as I had anticipated. Instead, they were participating in shared work spaces for the ability to interact and cross-pollinate ideas with other like minded people, and for the financial flexibility allowed when the costs of rent for a work space and the resources needed are shared between many people. The results from the interviews suggest that there is a lack of recognition of what shared spaces are amongst the City of Vancouver (hereby noted as “the City”), and that the cost of rent in the city has been a financial barrier for almost all the interviewees. As such, I recommend that in order to support the share economy and shared work spaces in Vancouver, the City should: 1. Create a business category that recognizes shared work spaces in the City to make it easier for shared space owners to navigate policies surrounding setting up the space; 2. If possible, set some controls on the cost of rent for commercial and industrial space in the city, to prevent shared work spaces from shutting down or being pushed out of commercial and industrial zones due to gentrification; 3. Perhaps consider allowing shared work spaces to establish in residential zones, in effect creating shared live-work spaces, as these seem to have even greater potential to reduce overall consumption of resources.
Item Metadata
Title |
Deconsuming Vancouver : supporting shared work spaces in the city
|
Creator | |
Date Issued |
2014-05-05
|
Description |
How
can
the
City
of
Vancouver
support
and
facilitate
shared
work
spaces
between
businesses
to
help
reduce
overall
resource
use
in
the
city?
To
help
answer
this
question,
I
decided
to
look
at
the
idea
of
shared
work
spaces
in
the
broader
context
of
the
sharing
economy.
The
sharing
economy
is
an
economic
model
based
on
the
sharing
of
under-utilized
assets,
whether
they
are
tangible
(space,
products,
tools,
etc.)
or
intangible
(time,
skills,
services,
etc.)
commodities,
directly
with
those
with
similar
needs.
The
assets
are
shared
between
individuals,
peer-to-peer
search
networks,
or
such
as
the
case
I
address,
shared
between
businesses.
I
interviewed
4
owners
of
shared
work
spaces
within
Vancouver,
with
questions
pertaining
to
why
they
participate
in
shared
work
spaces,
the
ways
by
which
their
consumption
of
resources
has
decreased
by
engaging
in
shared
spaces,
and
the
challenges
they
have
encountered
in
setting
up
and
running
their
space.
From
the
results,
I
found
that
the
primary
reasons
the
interviewees
engage
in
shared
spaces
is
not
for
reasons
of
sustainability
as
I
had
anticipated.
Instead,
they
were
participating
in
shared
work
spaces
for
the
ability
to
interact
and
cross-pollinate
ideas
with
other
like
minded
people,
and
for
the
financial
flexibility
allowed
when
the
costs
of
rent
for
a
work
space
and
the
resources
needed
are
shared
between
many
people.
The
results
from
the
interviews
suggest
that
there
is
a
lack
of
recognition
of
what
shared
spaces
are
amongst
the
City
of
Vancouver
(hereby
noted
as
“the
City”),
and
that
the
cost
of
rent
in
the
city
has
been
a
financial
barrier
for
almost
all
the
interviewees.
As
such,
I
recommend
that
in
order
to
support
the
share
economy
and
shared
work
spaces
in
Vancouver,
the
City
should:
1. Create
a
business
category
that
recognizes
shared
work
spaces
in
the
City
to
make
it
easier
for
shared
space
owners
to
navigate
policies
surrounding
setting
up
the
space;
2. If
possible,
set
some
controls
on
the
cost
of
rent
for
commercial
and
industrial
space
in
the
city,
to
prevent
shared
work
spaces
from
shutting
down
or
being
pushed
out
of
commercial
and
industrial
zones
due
to
gentrification;
3. Perhaps
consider
allowing
shared
work
spaces
to
establish
in
residential
zones,
in
effect
creating
shared
live-work
spaces,
as
these
seem
to
have
even
greater
potential
to
reduce
overall
consumption
of
resources.
|
Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
|
Series | |
Date Available |
2014-05-29
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0075676
|
URI | |
Affiliation | |
Campus | |
Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
|
Scholarly Level |
Undergraduate
|
Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 Canada