Rathnayake, I; Ochoa, J J; Gu, N; Rameezdeen, R; Statsenko, L and Sandhu, S (2025) Facilitating circularity through sharing economy practices in the construction industry: Potential shareable resources. Construction Innovation, 25(7), pp. 292-330. ISSN 1471-4175
Abstract
The sharing economy (SE) presents a promising avenue for achieving circular economy (CE) objectives by facilitating the identification of underused resources and supporting resource optimisation. The SE practices are well established in sectors such as transportation and accommodation; however, scholarly literature reveals a notable gap in research related to the construction industry (CI). Therefore, this paper aims to explore construction-related shareable resources while promoting the SE practices in the industry. A multimethod qualitative approach was used, including a literature review, qualitative website analysis of construction-related digital platforms and semi-structured interviews. The collected data were subjected to thematic analysis, using MS Excel and NVivo 14 software. Out of ten types of shareable resources identified in the literature, the website analysis recognised only seven types of resources (human resources, space/storage, mobility, equipment/ tools/material/machinery/ devices, data and information, energy and goods) that are currently being shared in the industry. Further, expert interviews recognised three additional resources (robots, financial capital and Wi-Fi) as potential shareable resources in the CI. The study introduced a novel perspective on the current SE research domain by investigating SE practices in the CI. The study's findings contributed to reframing traditional perspectives within the resource-based view theory. The findings provide actionable insights related to the identification and optimisation of underused resources in the CI. Furthermore, the study established a pathway for integrating SE practices into construction, contributing to the realisation of sustainability and CE goals. This research presents one of the first attempts to investigate the SE concept in the CI.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | circular economy; resource efficiency; resource-based view; resources; sharing economy; sustainability; sustainable construction practices |
| Index terms: | interview, resource-based view, sustainable construction practice, literature review, human resource, thematic analysis, financial capital, platform, mobility, circularity, qualitative approach, circular economy, resource efficiency, construction industry, resource optimization |
| Subjects: | sustainable construction, digital design, sustainable design, research methods, asset management, sustainable materials, methods and analysis, management, infrastructure and transport systems, industry analysis, control systems, data collection methods, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Project Management, Human Resources, Digital Applications, Urban Studies, Research Practice, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here