Work

Foregrounding everyday safety in platformized informal service provision

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This essay responds to two critical gaps in the literature on the platformization of informal services: first, existing narratives around the intersection of platformization and urban informality (particularly motorcycle taxis) are primarily focused on precarity and labor exploitation, notwithstanding the fact that digital or algorithmic systems play significant roles in shaping trust, transparency, credibility, and safety. Second, existing understandings of safety in urban research are either limited to policing and street security or rather diffuse, appearing across different disciplines, such as public health and disaster risk reduction, rather than being integrated into urban public safety. In response, this essay aims to foreground public safety in our understanding of platformed informal service provision, positing a conceptual approach that highlights the nexus between everyday risk, informality, and governance. To this end, calling for a more holistic and integrative approach to safety in urban research in the wake of rapid socio-technical changes, I argue that a better understanding of how safety is perceived, understood, or promoted alongside platformization is crucial for (equitable) urban governance.

Source: Environment and Planning A Economy and Space

DOI: 10.1177/0308518x261492553

Author: Mindy Park

Institution: University of Manchester

Language: English

Topic: Digital Economy and Work Transformation

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,900