Work

Platforms for the urban poor: Platform frugality in Mathare informal settlement

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Limited attention has been paid to platforms in informal settlements, where residents face multiple, simultaneous resource constraints. We address this challenge by elucidating how informal settlement residents use platforms to address resource constraints and by identifying limitations to platform deployment. Conceptually, we combine literature on platforms and informal settlements with that on frugal innovation to distinguish various platform domains and introduce the concept of platform frugality to explain platform deployment. Based on an empirical case study of Mathare informal settlement, we reveal that platform frugality varies across domains. Social media and certain fintech platforms are more frugal than other platforms and are more widely deployed in informal settlements, addressing more resource constraints. More advanced fintech, gig, health, and utility platforms are rarely used in informal settlements. Generic limitations to platform deployment include costs and residents' lack of formal IDs.

Source: Cities

DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106587

Authors: Erwin van Tuijl, Jan Fransen, Samuel Kiriro, Harrison Kioko, Alice Menya

Institution: Erasmus University Rotterdam

Language: English

Topic: Innovation and Socioeconomic Development

Subfield: Business and International Management

Field: Business, Management and Accounting

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, No poverty, Reduced inequalities, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,000