Digitalization and the Gig Economy: Ecosystem System Supporting Consumer Services

The 21st century has begun with digital economy platforms increasingly defining the lives of humans. It is thus, inevitable that digital economy platforms have proliferated extensively in Malaysia to transform the way businesses, organizations, and economic agents interact with each other and with their customers. Especially, internet platforms and mobile devices have enabled consumers to share resources from others more cheaply, including in collectively sourced platforms. This chapter examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the digital economy (gig), and in doing so, the manner with which it is influencing the way firms operate and consumer attitudes towards their products and services. It finishes by articulating its potential role and future prospects in raising the appropriation of economic synergies for Malaysian consumers by strengthening the digital ecosystem of through a focus on its shared economy properties. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Rajah Rasiah, Wah Yun Low, and Nurliana Kamaruddin;individual chapters, the contributors.

Urban Gardening and Wellbeing in Pandemic Era: Preliminary Results from a Socio-Environmental Factors Approach

The nature and impacts of living in urban settings are gaining their saliences in developed and developing countries alike, particularly during the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the crisis, the wellbeing of urban society became intertwined with a so-called "new lifestyle", which involved quarantine and working in a home environment. Facing such challenges, urban gardening is deemed as an alternative intervention to enhance residents' wellbeing and the environmental sustainability of urban areas, including Indonesian cities. A preliminary study was conducted to monitor the wellbeing of urban gardening practitioners, as well as investigate the motivation and any association between gardening and wellbeing with the COVID-19 pandemic situation by analysing data from Indonesian metropolitan areas. The study utilized instruments of "satisfaction with life scale (SWLS)" and "scale of positive and negative experience (SPANE)" to investigate the subjective wellbeing of 67 respondents. Amongst others, we identified that urban gardening practitioners tend to be in positive moods and have better overall wellbeing;52.24% of the respondents were highly satisfied with their life. Furthermore, we observed a variety of motivations to start gardening, with hobby and utilization of free space as prominent reasons, followed by other motivations such as environmental benefit and aesthetic. Integrating the environmental benefits of urban gardening and the implications for an individual's wellbeing can be reflected for sustainable urban development and policies during the COVID-19 pandemic.