Sharing economy and competitiveness of border cities with a future research approach (The study of Birjand city)

Rahnam, Mohammad Rahim; Sofalgar, Sahar

doi:10.22034/jargs.2025.478977.1146

Sharing economy and competitiveness of border cities with a future research approach (The study of Birjand city)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Mohammad rahim Rahnam ¹

Sahar Sofalgar ²

¹ Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.

² Department of Geography, Faculty of Literature and Humanities. Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

10.22034/jargs.2025.478977.1146

Abstract

Aim: The sharing economy is a new phenomenon that represents an innovative business model that can serve as a potential path for sustainable economic development. Considering that inequality in competitiveness causes national crises, special attention should be paid to the economic development of border cities in order to strengthen the national economy. Birjand city, has played several roles in its sphere of influence, therefore, strengthening the economic power of this city is very significant. The main idea, is the transition to the sharing economy by identifying the drivers effective in increasing the competitiveness of this city.
Material & Method: The approach is future research and its method is a combination of library and field studies. The nature of the research is analytical and its purpose is development-applied. After reviewing the theoretical literature and consulting with experts in the field of urban planning, finally 5 variables and 39 indicators have been selected. In the next step, to determine the drivers, 30 experts were asked to evaluate the influences in the Matrix of Direct Influence in Mic Mac software.
Finding: Based on the results of data analysis, indicators of consumption patterns and sustainable development and creation of new jobs are the most influence indicators, and indicators of government support for knowledge-based and innovative businesses and technological potential are the most dependence indicators.
Conclusion: Considering the strategic location of Birjand city, it is possible to take advantage of strategies such as strategic investment in the formation of digital trading platforms in order to exchange goods in order to strengthen the identified drivers and develop the economy of Birjand city.
Innovation: The innovation of this research is to examine all the variables in strengthening the sharing economy as a new approach in order to improve the competitiveness of cities, especially border cities, which has not been addressed in previous researches

Keywords

Sharing economy

competitiveness

border city

Birjand

future research

Subjects

Urban geography, urban planning

Extended Abstract

1. Introduction

Given that the urban economy is now the engine of global development, improving urban competitiveness can lead to new resources and opportunities by attracting new businesses, investments, talents, and visitors. As cities confront global challenges in the coming years, urban managers and planners must explore new approaches to make informed decisions about preserving nature. The sharing economy is one of the recent trends in combating climate change and reducing pollution, which has the potential to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals while promoting sustainable consumption and more efficient use of resources. Considering the concept of the sharing economy and its significant impact on increasing urban competitiveness, it should be noted that in order to predict and address the challenges facing cities and for the positive economic growth of cities, border cities should be the focus of attention of urban experts because border cities can play an effective role as the economic driving force of nation-states in the national arena. Therefore, the innovation of the present research is in combining the sharing economy approach with urban competitiveness and identifying the most important drivers in this area for the development and economic growth of the border city under study (Birjand city).

2. Materials and Methods

The study area of the research is Birjand city, located 190 kilometers from the border with Afghanistan. The nature of the present research is analytical, with a development-applied aim, and its dominant approach is future-oriented. The method of conducting the present research is a combination of library and field studies. In the present descriptive research, indicators were initially collected by reviewing the theoretical literature in the field of the sharing economy and urban competitiveness, as well as studying the most up-to-date sources. At this stage, 112 indicators were identified, and 39 final indicators were finally selected by interviewing experts in the field of urban planning and management (including university professors and urban managers). By identifying 5 variables (economic, technological, political, environmental-ecological, and socio-cultural factors) and 39 indicators, in the next stage to determine the most effective drivers, 30 experts in the field of urban issues were asked to determine the impact of each variable on the other in the Matrix of Direct Influence in Mac Mic software.

3. Results and Discussion

Studies on the five main variables identified show that the indicators of new job creation, digital platforms, government support for knowledge-based and innovative businesses, environmental assets, and the consumption patterns and sustainable development indicator have the highest level of influence, and the technological potential indicators, government support for knowledge-based and innovative businesses, access to natural resources, and entrepreneurial spirit have the highest level of dependence. Finally, ranking the direct and indirect influence and dependence of variables on each other reveals that the consumption patterns and sustainable development indicator have the highest direct and indirect influence, and the government support for knowledge-based and innovative businesses indicator also exhibits the highest level of dependence among the identified direct and indirect indicators. In general, indicators of consumption patterns and sustainable development, creation of new jobs, digital platforms, efficient use of natural resources, research and development units in companies, efficient use of resources, entrepreneurial spirit, people's trust in the government, macroeconomic structure, and quality of urban infrastructure are the most effective indicators, and indicators of government support for knowledge-based and innovative businesses, technological potential, innovation potential, digital platforms, creation of new jobs, private sector participation, people's skills in using emerging technologies, and wealth distribution are the most effective indicators.

4. Conclusions

The sharing economy facilitates the use of resources in societies without the need to consume or buy every time. An analysis of the scientific literature shows a lack of research on the significant impact of the sharing economy on the competitiveness of border cities. The findings of the present study, based on a future research approach, show that consumption patterns and sustainable development have the highest influence. Government support for knowledge-based and innovative businesses in the field of the sharing economy has been identified as the most dependent indicator. Based on the study by Nazmfar et al. (2017), the border city of Birjand ranks last in economic competitiveness indicators. Therefore, the sharing economy approach has been selected to boost the competitiveness of this border city. By examining previous studies, it is found that the key drivers in these studies have emphasized the political dimensions more. For example, in the study of Asadzadeh et al. (2024), the ruling ideology and integrated management are considered the key drivers, but in the present study, the significant impact of consumption patterns and sustainable development in advancing the competitiveness goals of this city has been pointed out, so the results of the present study regarding the main effective drivers have not been aligned with the results of this study. In the study by Abrado et al. (2024), economic diversity, cultural development of sites, skilled labor, public-private partnerships, fostering innovation, and aligning educational needs with emerging industries have been identified as the next priorities in this study. In the study by Borinsky et al. (2024), the significant impact of digital technologies has also been highlighted, and this indicator is among the 10 main drivers identified in the present study. Given that the sharing economy is a novel approach to addressing economic issues in cities and that no research has been conducted in this field in Iran to date, it is essential to utilize the results of this study to advance sustainable development goals Birjand.

5. Acknowledgments and Funding

· The manuscript did not receive a grant from any organization

6. Conflicts of Interest

· The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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