Digital Density and the Sharing Economy : A case study on the barriers and opportunities of digital sharing economy activities within Umeå

Sammanfattning: The digital sharing economy is becoming more and more of a necessity as the increase in urbanization means a greater need for resources. The sharing economy has only recently began to gain a lot of attention with actors from Airbnb and Uber taking over headlines and spreading across the world, but little is known about what type of impacts this phenomenon will have on society. While from another view some areas have seemed to be almost static when it comes to the adoption of such platforms. This study aims at revealing the barriers involved towards a digital sharing economy and what pathways and opportunities exist to overcome them. The qualitative case study focuses on the city of Umeå, known to be high in technical competency and world leading broadband, having almost no activity in the digital sharing economy. The study goes on to present the barriers, pathways, and opportunities related to the sharing economy and how they apply to the city of Umeå. Additionally the research reveals the ways the digital sharing economy can help a city increase their digital density as well as making it more attractive for those living and traveling through the area.