IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ijurrs/v48y2024i5p833-854.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

STRATEGIES AND TACTICS IN PLATFORM URBANISM: Contested Spatial Production through Quick Delivery Platforms in Berlin and Barcelona

Author

Listed:
  • Nicolás Palacios Crisóstomo
  • David Kaufmann

Abstract

Amid the Covid‐19 pandemic, the food and grocery delivery sector became a multibillion‐dollar industry, making riders with squared backpacks visible in our urban landscapes. We explore the role of quick delivery platforms in spatial production—and especially the strategies platforms employed and the tactics of platform workers in relation to this production. By adopting a Lefebvrian perspective, we introduce the concepts of ‘strategies of spatial abstraction’ and ‘spatial tactics of resistance’. We argue that strategies of platforms such as territorialization and digital Taylorism homogenize spatial relations, while platform workers use tactics to resist and to negotiate their everyday lives mediated by platforms. We draw on vignettes from Barcelona and Berlin to illustrate the spatial implications of these strategies and tactics. Territorialization anchors platforms to urban locations through physical infrastructure, while digital Taylorism utilizes algorithms to standardize spatial practices. These strategies contain contradictions: territorialization reduces worker atomization, while digital Taylorism catalyzes worker resistance tactics, especially logistical resistance around the platforms’ dark stores and warehouses. This article contributes to the growing body of literature on platform urbanism, revealing the complex and often contradictory nature of platform‐mediated production of urban space.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicolás Palacios Crisóstomo & David Kaufmann, 2024. "STRATEGIES AND TACTICS IN PLATFORM URBANISM: Contested Spatial Production through Quick Delivery Platforms in Berlin and Barcelona," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(5), pages 833-854, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:48:y:2024:i:5:p:833-854
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-2427.13269
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.13269
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1468-2427.13269?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tan, Zhi Ming & Aggarwal, Nikita & Cowls, Josh & Morley, Jessica & Taddeo, Mariarosaria & Floridi, Luciano, 2021. "The ethical debate about the gig economy: A review and critical analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    2. Saori Shibata, 2020. "Gig Work and the Discourse of Autonomy: Fictitious Freedom in Japan’s Digital Economy," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 535-551, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yao, Qiongrui (Missy) & Baker, LaKami T. & Lohrke, Franz T., 2022. "Building and sustaining trust in remote work by platform-dependent entrepreneurs on digital labor platforms: Toward an integrative framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 327-339.
    2. Melián-González, Santiago, 2022. "Gig economy delivery services versus professional service companies: Consumers’ perceptions of food-delivery services," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Uchiyama, Yosuke & Furuoka, Fumitaka & Md. Akhir, Md. Nasrudin, 2022. "Gig Workers, Social Protection and Labour Market Inequality: Lessons from Malaysia," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(3), pages 165-184.
    4. Deborah Giustini, 2021. "The Impact Of Labour Market Trends On The Employment Of R&D Personnel: A Literature Review," HSE Working papers WP BRP 117/STI/2021, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    5. Altanshagai Batmunkh & Maria Fekete-Farkas & Zoltan Lakner, 2022. "Bibliometric Analysis of Gig Economy," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-15, April.
    6. Bingbing Zhang & Yin Yao & Guangkui Han & Jialiang He & Yu Xie & Xinyu Wang, 2023. "How Does Platform Labour Process Control Affect Courier’s Employment Mobility Intentions?—The Mediating Effects of Overtime Work and Job Autonomy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-19, June.
    7. Chunyu Zhang & Wenge Zeng, 2024. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: Evaluating the Construction of a Digital Supervision Platform for Digital Trade Systems: a Multilateral Perspective," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 12503-12534, September.
    8. Struckell, Elisabeth M. & Patel, Pankaj C. & Ojha, Divesh & Oghazi, Pejvak, 2022. "Financial literacy and self employment – The moderating effect of gender and race," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 639-653.
    9. Gorwa, Robert, 2024. "The Politics of Platform Regulation: How Governments Shape Online Content Moderation," EconStor Books, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 299876.
    10. Alexandra D Lefcoe & Catherine E Connelly & Ian R Gellatly, 2024. "Ride-Hail Drivers, Taxi Drivers and Multiple Jobholders: Who Takes the Most Risks and Why?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(5), pages 1307-1332, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:48:y:2024:i:5:p:833-854. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0309-1317 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.