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Food Delivery Couriers and Their Interaction with Urban Public Space: A Case Study of a Typical “Takeaway Community” in the Wuhan Optics Valley Area

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  • Lei Peng

    (School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
    Hubei Engineering and Technology Research Center of Urbanization, Wuhan 430074, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Siyuan Shui

    (School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Zhuo Li

    (School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Jianwen Yang

    (School of Architecture & Urban Planning, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430070, China
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

Food delivery couriers are a new type of worker created in modern cities within the background of a sharing economy. As a form of gig worker, they shuttle through the streets and take charge of order distribution for digital labor platforms. Food delivery couriers use the atriums and streets of their community neighborhood as their places of work and rest, occupying the public spaces that belonged to the original residents. Additionally, this phenomenon sets off a chain reaction which not only creates conflicts with the activities and passage of residents, creating time–space interlinkages, but also exerts profound influence on the economic and population structure of the region. This study focuses on the time–space patterns of food delivery couriers in the Optics Valley youth city community in Wuhan city. Inspired by Tim Cresswell’s mobility theory, this study creates a conceptual framework to explain the time–space patterns of food delivery couriers, including the following aspects: motivation, experience, conduction, and efficiency. This study revealed the characteristics of food delivery couriers on the occupation level, the conflicts between food delivery couriers and other parties as invaders of public space, and their tactics. This study also makes some policy recommendations regarding the career status of couriers and provides a reference for research on the emergence of gig workers in the urban environment.

Suggested Citation

  • Lei Peng & Siyuan Shui & Zhuo Li & Jianwen Yang, 2022. "Food Delivery Couriers and Their Interaction with Urban Public Space: A Case Study of a Typical “Takeaway Community” in the Wuhan Optics Valley Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-20, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:10:p:6238-:d:820041
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhou, Irene., 2020. "Digital labour platforms and labour protection in China," ILO Working Papers 995098992402676, International Labour Organization.
    2. John B. Forkuor & Kofi O. Akuoko & Eric H. Yeboah, 2017. "Negotiation and Management Strategies of Street Vendors in Developing Countries," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(1), pages 21582440176, February.
    3. Bradon Ellem, 2016. "Geographies of the labour process: automation and the spatiality of mining," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 30(6), pages 932-948, December.
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