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Placing the platform economy: the emerging, developing and upgrading of Taobao villages as a platform-based place making phenomenon in China

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  • Han Chu
  • Robert Hassink
  • Dixiang Xie
  • Xiaohui Hu

Abstract

The actions of platforms and their all-inclusive impact on place development is coined platform-based place making in this article. We use the actor-network theory to analyse a typical e-commerce platform-based place making, namely the emergence, development and upgrading of Taobao villages in China, and to explore the mechanisms of platform place making power. Our study shows that platforms ‘make’ places by platform–place interactions of progressively expanding the enrolment of intra-regional and extra-regional actors. In addition, our research advances the actor-network theory and its application and transcends the urban and production-side bias of economic geography.

Suggested Citation

  • Han Chu & Robert Hassink & Dixiang Xie & Xiaohui Hu, 2023. "Placing the platform economy: the emerging, developing and upgrading of Taobao villages as a platform-based place making phenomenon in China," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(2), pages 319-334.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cjrecs:v:16:y:2023:i:2:p:319-334.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kaiwen Ji & Qiaoyun Hou & Yi Yu & Dan Pan, 2023. "Rural E-Commerce and Agricultural Carbon Emission Reduction: A Quasi-Natural Experiment from China’s Rural E-Commerce Demonstration County Program Based on 355 Cities in Ten Years," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Han Chu & Robert Hassink, 2023. "Advancing spatial ontology in evolutionary economic geography," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(3), pages 391-404.
    3. Xuliang Zhang & Chenxiang Elaine Ji & Haixia Zhang & Yuchen Wei & Jianwei Jin, 2023. "On the Role of the Digital Industry in Reshaping Urban Economic Structure: the Case of Hangzhou, China," Journal of Economic Analysis, Anser Press, vol. 2(4), pages 123-139, July.
    4. Anna Davies & Betsy Donald & Mia Gray, 2023. "The power of platforms—precarity and place," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 16(2), pages 245-256.
    5. Peng, Lifang & Chen, Yi-Cheng & Robinson, Simon & Li, Qi & Wu, Jen-Her, 2024. "Exploring IT business value creation in a Taobao Village EC ecosystem: A systems theory perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).

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