What really matters here is the purpose for booking and the secondary activity it triggers . The mechanics of bookings need to ‘ get out of the way ’ and be simple , efficient , provide the required information and be trustworthy . Unfortunately , in towns and cities across the country , bookings are still made manually with sticky notes or , with a poorly designed digital flow . These processes can be a blocker for economic activity within a local area . When people use spaces efficiently , the local economy wins , the space owner wins , the activity provider wins , the environment wins and neighbourhoods become more vibrant .
Everyday Human activity that requires hiring a Space
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Figure - the flow of economic Activity tied to space sharing
Income for space owner
Space is discovered and booked for a fee or free
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1st Transaction
Regular ( repeat ) Event ( s )
Activity takes place either for a fee or free
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2nd Transaction
Proximity benefit > Overflow into local precincts
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3rd Transaction
Community members join in
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When reviewing the activities listed , it ’ s helpful to consider if the space was easy to book .
SPACE SHARING IN THE DIGITAL AGE Step one in enabling the Space Sharing Economy as part of any economic development strategy is to know the user journey for accessing local community venues , spaces and places . In 2023 , the bar has been set very high by digital platforms that have normalised efficiency . Digital platforms ( AKA marketplaces ) have been a binder for connecting a resource to a customer and making a transaction simple . Want a table at a restaurant ? Just book it online in minutes . Want to travel to Rome ? Book your flight online in under an hour ? Need transport ? Book a ride share in seconds . Anyone with a space to share is ultimately competing with the likes of Amazon , where that book you purchased last night can be on your doorstep the next afternoon .
These disruptive platforms now save the consumer time , provide answers to common questions ( price , availability and reviews ) in one place and makes the financial transaction completely frictionless . We have all been trained to expect this new normal and if we stumble across a process that is time-consuming and a bit cumbersome (‘ they just wrote my credit card on a sticky note ’ ) then we bounce and go elsewhere where it ’ s just a bit more seamless .
From working closely with community space owners for the past several years we know that :
• Most business owners have space to share but believe it ’ s not worth the hassle .
• Many space assets in the community are under-utilised , or suffer from peaks and troughs in demand at key times of day .
• Any dedicated staff who manage bookings are dealing with old booking administrative processes . Their day can be distracted by managing enquiries , checking availability , sending invoices and chasing unpaid bills .
• The systems and processes used to manage bookings are usually highly manual or inefficient . For example , keeping a physical registrations book or having to enter data in multiple systems . This can lead to human error , a frustrating process for customers and staff .
• It ’ s extremely difficult or just really time-consuming to get reliable data on utilisation , participation and community reach and impact . Many space owner operators spend hours each month manually adding up space utilisation from an outlook calendar .
• The compounding effect of lack of funding and time means valuable staff hours cannot be spent either finding ways to change or improve the system . But more importantly all this time spent handling repetitive transactional administration takes their time away from doing what ’ s really impactful in their space ; programming and events , building community connections and activation and placemaking .
SPACE SHARING DATA INSIGHTS Community facilities are everywhere but many of them are also a mystery . Great effort goes into providing the many halls ,
centres , parks , courts , gazebos and more , but just how much are they used and how ?
By looking at insights from over 2,200 spaces across 40 + Councils we ’ ve discovered patterns about facility utilisation . For example , the average facility hiring time is 3 hours , the average hire spend is $ 70 and the average number of attendees is 30 . The impact is that space bookings are very much part of the local economy .
When we review the bookings data for regular hirer groups with Councils we work with , we always shine a light on the highest value hirers . The data always speaks volume . For example ,
‘ Did you know that the Jumping Jellybeanz dance group ( not their real name ) is bringing in more than $ 70,000.00 in bookings turnover in a year ? There are also 500 families accessing the hall each week .
In most cases the numbers are surprising and then the next question we ask is - ‘ is the hirer happy ?’
Usually it ’ s a ‘ yes ’. Sometimes it ’ s ‘ soso ’ and if it ’ s a ‘ no , they ’ re not happy ’, it ’ s due to maintenance issues . Being able to demonstrate the financial return strengthens the business case to fix the issue and complete the necessary maintenance .
OPPORTUNITIES How can we amplify community connections and economic benefits for neighborhoods ? There are three parties involved :
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL VOL 16 NO 2 2023 33