Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities

Abstract Platform-based services are rapidly transforming urban work, lives and spaces around the world. The rise of platforms dependent on largely expendable labour relations, with significant migrant involvement, must be seen as connected, and as replicating larger social processes rather than mer...

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Autores principales:	Natasha A. Webster, Qian Zhang
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	Platform urbanism Intersectionality Gig economy Migrant Work Urban inequalities Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9000-9428 Cities. Urban geography GF125
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9880340c19a2482fab0043dd5c74ed42
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:9880340c19a2482fab0043dd5c74ed42
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9880340c19a2482fab0043dd5c74ed422021-11-14T12:31:42ZCentering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities10.1186/s42854-021-00027-z2524-8162https://doaj.org/article/9880340c19a2482fab0043dd5c74ed422021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s42854-021-00027-zhttps://doaj.org/toc/2524-8162Abstract Platform-based services are rapidly transforming urban work, lives and spaces around the world. The rise of platforms dependent on largely expendable labour relations, with significant migrant involvement, must be seen as connected, and as replicating larger social processes rather than merely technological changes. This perspective paper urgently calls for an intersectional perspective to better understand social-technical relations crossing the digital-urban interface of platform urbanism in contemporary European cities. Critics of platforms and gig work, to date, have mainly focused on algorithms-based social control, degraded working conditions, problematic employment relations and precariousness of gig work. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has both disrupted and amplified these issues, intensifying the vulnerability of gig workers. For example, in Sweden, migrant groups and gig workers were separately identified as being hardest hit by Covid, but with little attention to the interconnectivity between these categories, nor to how these groups are co-positioned vis-a-vis larger socio-economic inequalities. Thus, we argue for a deeper understanding of the social processes underlying platforms and for active investigation of how inequalities are being produced and/or maintained in/by these processes. Urban planners, designers and policy makers will need to actively address the hybrid (digital and physical) urban spaces produced in platform urbanism in order to prevent spatial and economic inequalities. We argue for a stronger recognition of interrelated and overlapping social categories such as gender and migrant status as central to the construction of mutually constitutive systems of oppression and discrimination produced in and through the platform urbanism.Natasha A. WebsterQian ZhangBMCarticlePlatform urbanismIntersectionalityGig economyMigrantWorkUrban inequalitiesAesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifyingNA9000-9428Cities. Urban geographyGF125ENUrban Transformations, Vol 3, Iss 1, Pp 1-7 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Platform urbanism Intersectionality Gig economy Migrant Work Urban inequalities Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9000-9428 Cities. Urban geography GF125
spellingShingle	Platform urbanism Intersectionality Gig economy Migrant Work Urban inequalities Aesthetics of cities. City planning and beautifying NA9000-9428 Cities. Urban geography GF125 Natasha A. Webster Qian Zhang Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities
description	Abstract Platform-based services are rapidly transforming urban work, lives and spaces around the world. The rise of platforms dependent on largely expendable labour relations, with significant migrant involvement, must be seen as connected, and as replicating larger social processes rather than merely technological changes. This perspective paper urgently calls for an intersectional perspective to better understand social-technical relations crossing the digital-urban interface of platform urbanism in contemporary European cities. Critics of platforms and gig work, to date, have mainly focused on algorithms-based social control, degraded working conditions, problematic employment relations and precariousness of gig work. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has both disrupted and amplified these issues, intensifying the vulnerability of gig workers. For example, in Sweden, migrant groups and gig workers were separately identified as being hardest hit by Covid, but with little attention to the interconnectivity between these categories, nor to how these groups are co-positioned vis-a-vis larger socio-economic inequalities. Thus, we argue for a deeper understanding of the social processes underlying platforms and for active investigation of how inequalities are being produced and/or maintained in/by these processes. Urban planners, designers and policy makers will need to actively address the hybrid (digital and physical) urban spaces produced in platform urbanism in order to prevent spatial and economic inequalities. We argue for a stronger recognition of interrelated and overlapping social categories such as gender and migrant status as central to the construction of mutually constitutive systems of oppression and discrimination produced in and through the platform urbanism.
format	article
author	Natasha A. Webster Qian Zhang
author_facet	Natasha A. Webster Qian Zhang
author_sort	Natasha A. Webster
title	Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities
title_short	Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities
title_full	Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities
title_fullStr	Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities
title_full_unstemmed	Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities
title_sort	centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in european cities
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9880340c19a2482fab0043dd5c74ed42
work_keys_str_mv	AT natashaawebster centeringsocialtechnicalrelationsinstudyingplatformurbanismintersectionalityforjustfuturesineuropeancities AT qianzhang centeringsocialtechnicalrelationsinstudyingplatformurbanismintersectionalityforjustfuturesineuropeancities
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Centering social-technical relations in studying platform urbanism: intersectionality for just futures in European cities

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