DATA COLLECTION ON URBAN SHARING IN SHANGHAI HAS STARTED

In January 2020, together with Urban Sharing team, Sharing and the City researcher Yuliya Voytenko Palgan started collecting empirical data on urban sharing in Shanghai. So far, we have conducted more than 12 interviews with sharing economy researchers, experts, platforms and users. Our emerging findings are exciting in many ways, as Shanghai and China offer a somewhat different context to what we have learnt from Western European and North American cities. The purpose of this blog is to share our discoveries so far.

Preliminary findings

First, we see that the sharing economy in a Chinese context has a broader meaning to that of Western contexts where most of the services that are offered through a third party app are considered to be a part of the sharing economy. This means that the sharing economy includes gig economy and second-hand markets, as well as online and app-based payment schemes and crowdsourcing.

DiDi is an online taxi in Shanghai (a Chinese version of Uber)

Second, digitalisation of access to services and functioning of the society as a whole is seen in China as a way for progressive development and it appears to be broadly supported by the government. Most of sharing economy services are integrated into one or a couple of smartphone apps (e.g. WeChat), which are also used for payments and for booking various services and activities.

Third, business-to-consumer (B2C) sharing models are dominant in Shanghai. Potential reasons for this are fourfold. First, the residents in Chinese cities do not have as many possessions as people in Western cities, and the idling capacity potential for privately owned physical assets is therefore not as high. Second, the government may be more supportive of B2C models as it is easier to regulate them and ensure that they follow taxation rules and safety requirements rather than governing single consumers. Third, promoting economic growth and business development is high on strategic agendas among Chinese policymakers at different levels, which may explain a more welcoming climate for B2C sharing models. Fourth, according to several of our interviewees, B2C sharing economy platforms are viewed as a more professional way to satisfy user needs and deliver higher quality services than through peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms.

Sharing economy landscape in Shanghai

Shanghai has a Master Plan for urban development in 2017-2035 “Striving for the Excellent Global City”, which among other priorities highlights the importance of a low carbon development. Bike and car sharing, particularly that of electric vehicles (EVs), are seen as more environmentally sustainable mobility solutions. Bike sharing is also viewed as a way to deliver so-called “first and last mile” service for people to access public transportation conveniently and efficiently.

Meituan Bike (former Mobike) is the biggest free floating bike sharing platform in Shanghai

In mobility sector, free-floating bike sharing seems to be the most widely known and used sharing service in Shanghai with two operators, Meituan Bike (former Mobike) and Ofo, offering their services to Shanghai residents. Ride-hailing is also rather popular with DiDi being the major online taxi service provider on the Chinese market. There is a significant interest to advance EV use in China and to market China as a world leader for EVs. This is another reason for the government to support EV car sharing. EVCARD is the biggest government-owned B2C car sharing platform in Shanghai. Scooter sharing is so far prohibited in Shanghai for safety reasons.

Accommodation sharing seems to be less popular than mobility sharing with two P2P platforms dominating the market: Tujia and Airbnb. Tujia primarily targets the domestic market with its services, while Airbnb targets international visitors to Shanghai. Couchsurfing is also present in Shanghai, but it seems to be less popular among Chinese citizens, arguably due to the general lack of trust to strangers in society.

In the physical goods sector, there are multiple B2C initiatives including sharing of power banks, umbrellas and clothes, the landscape and the business models of which we are still exploring.