The initiative has certified 50 sharing projects that provide people with an alternative to owning things they rarely use, and given grants to a number of these projects. Certified projects range from local car–sharing company SoCar, and websites like Billiji that help people share things with their neighbours, to schemes that match students struggling to find affordable housing with older residents who have a spare room.

As well as supporting collaborative economy organisations, cities can encourage better use of city government assets, for instance car fleets, office space and tools. Seoul has opened up almost 800 public buildings for public meetings and events when they aren’t in use.

Sharing assets doesn’t necessarily come naturally to people in cities in the 21st century, particularly when Amazon is only a click awayand since it was launched in 2013, Sharehub has organised a large public engagement and education campaign with conferences, seminars, reports and a book. City governments have an important role to play in changing cultures and promoting the idea of people accessing assets when they need them as an alternative to ownership. Sharehub, a platform launched by Creative Commons Korea, has been trying to promote public acceptance of the collaborative economy as part of the Sharing City Seoul initiative. Since it was launched in 2013, Sharehub has organised a large public engagement and education campaign with conferences, seminars, reports and a book.