Wicked Problem

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Sustainable development in urban areas presents a wicked problem for share economy businesses, due to the conflict of interest between some stakeholders - including government, competitor businesses and the society. However the share economy has also led to new opportunities for a range of stakeholders such as customers, developers and the community. The share economy is a socio-economic system where people share resources. (Porter & Kramer 2011). In urban areas there has been a large growth of share economy businesses like Uber and Airbnb. A wicked problem is a social problem that is “complex or ill defined” (University of Technology Sydney 2011, p.9). Urban sustainability refers to development in urban areas that “meets the needs of the present …show more content…

Sustainability in urban areas has many perspectives in business including: ecocentrism, technocentrism and ecological modernisation (University of Technology Sydney 2011). There are also major global initiatives that have shaped our understanding of sustainable development such as: Our Common Future; The Rio Convention Agenda 21; and the Millennium Development Goals (University of Technology Sydney 2011). There is no universal agreement on the definition of sustainable development hence makes urban sustainability a wicked problem. Urban areas “comprising thousands of minority groups, each joined around common interests, common value systems, and shared stylistic preferences that differ from those of other groups.” (Rittel & Webber 1973, p.167) Therefore these multiple perspectives make the topic of urban sustainability a wicked problem because there is “no definitive formulation” (Rittel and Webber 1973, p.161). There are also many solutions to this wicked problem of urban sustainability that “are not true or false, but good or bad” (Rittel & Webber 1973, …show more content…

The conflict of interest between the share economy businesses and the society, indicates the wicked problem of urban sustainability impacting shared economy business. “When the sharing economy first started, investors assumed rich people wouldn’t bother listing their homes and cars since they didn’t need the income… (however) the sharing economy is being used heavily by those least in need of it” (Stein 2015, p.40). Social inequality is another wicked problem in itself, hence the wicked problem of urban sustainability has led to another wicked problem – “every wicked problem can be considered to be a symptom of another problem” (Rittel & Webber 1973, p.165). Therefore this wicked problem of urban sustainability negatively impacts share economy

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