Abstract
This chapter looks at the impact of the sharing economy on the governance of cities . The Sharing City Seoul Project is used as a case study to ascertain this impact. Seoul is one of the leading cities when it comes to innovation in the sharing economy . Its experience has already informed other global cities around the world, including New York City and Amsterdam. The chapter unpacks the policy interventions that took place in Seoul to inform future approaches to governing cities in other countries. The short-term micro effects of the sharing economy on the governance of cities are already underway. These effects suggest that regulatory schemes are being adjusted to enable innovation in the sharing economy . The long-term macro effects seem to usher in wider governance implications. There is a constitutional imperative where cities are emerging as independent actors on the international stage, with their own sui generis legal personalities. Cities need to adjust their regulatory approaches to secure a first mover advantage on reaping the benefits from these effects. The vertical relationship between federal, state and local government (in particular, urban or city -region governments) needs to be reassessed in light of these effects.
AN earlier version of this chapter appeared in Benjamen Franklen Gussen, ‘On the Governance of Sharing Cities: Lessons from the Sharing Economy in Seoul’ (2018) 12 Northeast Asian Law Review 9.
This paper was made possible by a 2018 grant from the Australia Korea Foundation.
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Notes
- 1.
Buchanan and Stubblebine (1962).
- 2.
Vermesan and Friess (2013).
- 3.
Kardashev (1964), pp. 217, 219.
- 4.
- 5.
Gussen (2013).
- 6.
Innovation is understood in the Schumpeterian sense, namely as “new combinations” leading to new energy resources, new products, new methods of production, new markets, or new organization of economic activity (such as networks as opposed to markets or hierarchies). See Schumpeter (1939), pp. 84–85. See Schumpeter (1934), p. 66.
- 7.
Population density is interpreted in a network sense, namely, as “the degree to which the members of any network are interconnected.” See Thompson (2003), p. 34.
- 8.
Governance refers to: (1) the regulation of agents in a given organizational model (such as hierarchies, markets or networks), (2) the effectiveness of their reproduction, and (3) their alignment and coordination. See Thompson (2003), p. 34.
- 9.
Guerini (2014).
- 10.
Rifkin (2011), pp. 161–192.
- 11.
Agyeman and McLaren (2017).
- 12.
Schor (2016).
- 13.
Schor (2016), p. 11.
- 14.
Rifkin (2011), pp. 161–192.
- 15.
- 16.
Rifkin (2011), p. 259.
- 17.
Rifkin (2014), p. 138.
- 18.
Schwab (2016).
- 19.
Schwab (2016), p. 7.
- 20.
Schwab (2016), p. 157.
- 21.
Schwab (2016), p. 158.
- 22.
Schwab (2016), p. 67.
- 23.
Schwab (2016), p. 68.
- 24.
Schwab (2016), pp. 68–69.
- 25.
Schwab (2016), p. 74.
- 26.
Schwab (2016), p. 76.
- 27.
McLaren and Agyeman (2015).
- 28.
Solidarity refers to commitment to the common good. Note that trade-offs between hypotaxis and solidarity become binding only under extreme conditions. The existence of idle capacity negates the need for such trade-offs.
- 29.
Rose (1986).
- 30.
Poteete and Ostrom (2010).
- 31.
Hayek (1976), pp. 108–109.
- 32.
Ebdon and Franklin (2006), p. 437.
- 33.
Kohr (1977).
- 34.
Kohr (1977), pp. 14–16.
- 35.
Kohr (1977), p. 20.
- 36.
Davis (1955), pp. 429–430.
- 37.
Population density was managed mostly by larger (geographical) footprints. Over time, however, density continues to climb back to its earlier levels. The sharing economy of the 21st century is allowing for a reduction of density while holding the footprint constant.
- 38.
Davis (1955).
- 39.
Galka (2016).
- 40.
The 4037 Cities (2015).
- 41.
Schor (2016).
- 42.
Gussen (2018).
- 43.
Rifkin (2011), pp. 161–192.
- 44.
- 45.
Putnam et al. (1994).
- 46.
Buchanan and Stubblebine (1962).
- 47.
Coase (1960), p. 1.
- 48.
Coase (1960), p. 69.
- 49.
- 50.
Dahlman (1979), pp. 141–148.
- 51.
Dahlman (1979), p. 142.
- 52.
Williamson (1981), pp. 548–559.
- 53.
Demsetz (1967), pp. 347–348.
- 54.
Hierarchies are rule-driven processes that rely on “administrative” functions for coordination and on “management” for direction.
- 55.
Note that both cost differences are also a function of the level of production. The optimal value of asset specificity depends on demand effects and absolute cost effects. This discussion looks at a fixed level of output with demand effects.
- 56.
Thompson (2003), p. 34.
- 57.
Thompson (2003), p. 40.
- 58.
Thompson (2003), p. 40.
- 59.
Thompson (2003), p. 48.
- 60.
Thompson (2003), p. 50.
- 61.
Cooter and Ulen (2014), p. 68.
- 62.
Coase (1960), p. 1.
- 63.
The Firve Capitals (2019).
- 64.
Iaione (2016), pp. 415–415.
- 65.
Iaione (2016), p. 416.
- 66.
Iaione (2016), p. 417.
- 67.
The Largest Cities (2007).
- 68.
The Largest Cities (2007).
- 69.
Demographia (2018).
- 70.
Tokyo, the most populous city in the world today (around 40 million), however, is ranked 646 with a density of 4500 km2.
- 71.
Heinrichs (2013), p. 228.
- 72.
Greene and McGinty (2016).
- 73.
Seoul Metropolitan Government Act No 5396. December 31, 2012.
- 74.
Bernardi (2016).
- 75.
Seoul Metropolitan Government (2012).
- 76.
Johnson (2013).
- 77.
Seoul Metropolitan Government Act No 5396. December 31, 2012.
- 78.
Booth (2014).
- 79.
Hypotaxis (subsidiarity) however should not be confused with (top-down) delegation. See Gussen (2016b), p. 383.
- 80.
Seoul Metropolitan Government Act No 5396. December 31, 2012.
- 81.
Seoul Metropolitan Government Act No 5396. December 31, 2012.
- 82.
Paton (1973), p. 393.
- 83.
Frug (1980), pp. 1057–1113. The thesis was a response to John Dillon’s 1872 treatise on the authority of states over cities . The latter was based on a rationale for protecting private property. The first part of the thesis was developed by Judge Thomas Cooley who denied absolute state supremacy over cities . Cooley argued that local government was a liberty of exceptional importance in American colonial history. The second component of this thesis came from Amasa Eaton, a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives (1865–66 and 1872–74). He argued that the right to local self-government preceded the incorporation of the states and hence was not subject to state restriction. The third part of the thesis was proposed by Eugene McQuillin, who was an American lawyer and a member of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. McQuillin canvased the right to local self-government in the history of municipal corporations in support of the proposition that cities were not created by the states.
- 84.
Frug (1980), p. 1074.
- 85.
Humby (2012), p. 628.
- 86.
Caulfield and Larsen (2002).
- 87.
Frug and Barron (2006) (eds), pp. 1–2. Although Frug and Barron suggest that international local government law “should not be evaluated in terms of whether the world is enhancing or limiting local power. The focus instead should be on the kinds of cities that international local government law is trying to create.” See Frug and Barron (2006) (eds), p. 60. I argue that international local government law enables city -regions to become independent international actors, which would make sense only if we empower them to act in such capacity. I suggest that international local government law does in fact empower city -regions rather than simply making cities creatures of international statutes rather than domestic ones.
- 88.
Frug and Barron (2006) (eds), p. 4.
- 89.
- 90.
Friedmann (1986), p. 69.
- 91.
Choi et al. (2013).
- 92.
Seong (2000), pp. 127–148, 130–31.
- 93.
Article 118 of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.
- 94.
Oh (1999), pp. 89–97.
- 95.
Lee (1996), pp. 60–64.
- 96.
Choi et al. (2013), p. 24.
- 97.
The LAA was repealed and replaced in 2007.
- 98.
Choi et al. (2013), p. 27.
- 99.
Choi et al. (2013), p. 30.
- 100.
Choi et al. (2013), p. 31.
- 101.
This Special Act has since been repealed by the Special Act on Decentralization and Restructuring of Local Government Entities 2013 (Korea). The latest version is the Special Act on Local Autonomy and Decentralization, and Restructuring of Local Administrative Systems 2018 (Korea).
- 102.
Choi et al. (2013), p. 61.
- 103.
Choi et al. (2013), p. 63.
- 104.
Kim (2003), p. 55.
- 105.
Lee and Arrington (2008), pp. 75–81.
- 106.
Bae (2009), pp. 471–72.
- 107.
Bae (2009), p. 470.
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Gussen, B.F. (2020). Sharing City Seoul and the Future of City Governance. In: Corrales Compagnucci, M., Forgó, N., Kono, T., Teramoto, S., Vermeulen, E.P.M. (eds) Legal Tech and the New Sharing Economy. Perspectives in Law, Business and Innovation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1350-3_3
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