20 September, 2024

Carr invited to the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano

Thank you Deepa Joshi and Valeria Fedeli for organizing this wonderful event !

The Role of Digital Platforms: Exploring Socio-spatial Implications
at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies (DAStU), Politecnico di Milano, Italy

Contemporary urban spaces are increasingly shaped by digital technologies, data, and the increased circulation of materials and goods, people, and information. These changes are particularly relevant to the E-Commerce operations, logistic spaces and managed by a new category of economic actors: Digital Platforms(DP’s). They are visible through diverse infrastructural arrangements, new production settings, automation, the functional reuse of existing spatial typologies and the arrival of new ones. This further poses many challenging questions for urban research: How do DPs shape physical urban spaces, and what are the impacts at the local level? What are the interdependencies between places of circulation and urban spaces in cities? What kind of new local-global arrangements and interventions are being formed? Oriented around the operational characteristics of DPs, this seminar aims to build a reflection on the socio-spatial implications and sustainability interventions from the vantage point of e-commerce retail and logistics functions.

Sina Hardaker, University of Würzburg, presented on "The Platform Fix: A critical lens on how digital platforms address pending urban-economic challenges"

Constance Carr (DGEO) presented, "Three ways that Amazon entrenches social-spatial patterns of urban development"

Niccolò Cuppini, The University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland, presented "Circulations: Genealogies and Tendencies of Platform Urbanization"
 
Nicholas Rudikoff, Campaigns Director at UNI Global Union, talked about labour issues with Amazon.

These were followed by a discussion round  led by Deepa and Valieria with special feedback from Stefano Di Vita and Simonetta Armondi.
 
 
gerne wieder!