ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines an alternative concept or narrative, that of the ‘sharing city’, and explores the overlaps, contrasts and interactions between ideas of smart and sharing cities with the aim of proposing a more socially and environmentally sustainable future orientation for cities. Smart city discourses and narratives have been in wide circulation for more than a decade, building on and adopting elements of preceding narratives of wired, intelligent and creative cities. Smart cities run up against social critique on grounds of participation, inclusion and equality. The sharing cities discourse is slightly newer, with a few examples of city-led and citizen-led designations, and also illustrated by contested sharing practices in a much wider set of cities including Barcelona, Berlin, San Francisco and Milan. M. Provoost is also scathing about the design of stand-alone smart cities: often highway-oriented, car-based – with exclusive spaces and design drawing on US cul-de-sacs rather than inclusive ones learning from European neighbourhoods.
