Platform Urbanization Processes and Uneven Effects: Towards a re-definition of urban-digital citizenship

Today, globalization can be understood as the interdependence of technology, institutions, means of production and finance, goods, people, and economic flows, transcending traditional borders and political boundaries. As transnational connections, platformization of spaces, and interdependencies strengthen, although sometimes conflictually and with significant inequalities for certain parts of the population such as migrants, the sovereignty of nation-states, though still formally and legally recognized, is weakening in its nomos.

In this context, Filippo Bignami aims to challenge the binary distinction between the physical and the virtual, exploring how the tension between the online and offline worlds is increasingly blurred. This multiplication of interactions is particularly evident in urban spaces, where new, informal borders emerge beyond the established formal ones. Zoning regulations, privatization of public spaces, unequal access to services, differential inclusion and exclusion of specific populations, disparities in wealth and infrastructure, and workers commuting patterns all exemplify the proliferation of borders beyond formal spatial delineations. This transformation, which sometimes damages weaker sections of the urban population such as migrants typically are, provides a critical opportunity to reconsider the definition of evolving dimensions of citizenship.

Many defining characteristics of urban life are shifting to digital platforms, fundamentally altering how interactions occur and reshaping the daily experiences and practices of citizens. The planning and governance of urban environments are increasingly mediated through platform-based intermediaries, amplifying data-driven decision-making and predictive analytics. Simultaneously, social and political spaces (such as workplaces, marketplaces, sites of protest, debates, getting information, fora for collective action, etc.) are increasingly moving into the virtual realm, generating new topologies of negotiation, participation, and control. This shift is not merely a novel way of living but represents a fundamental transformation in spatial production.

We refer to this emerging phenomenon as platform urbanization. Through processes of abstraction and disassociation, platform urbanization reconfigures the relationships between producers and users, as well as between loci and their inhabitants. And it happens everywhere. By framing platform urbanization as an ongoing process, we underscore the need for a shift from a formal to a substantive conception of citizenship; one that better explains and contextualizes the multiplication of dimensions it generates.

Filippo Bignami

Senior Researcher, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland

Filippo Bignami holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences. He is a senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences of Southern Switzerland, Department of Economics, Health and Social Sciences (SUPSI-DEASS), and coordinator of LUCI (Labour, Urbanscape, and CItizenship) research area. He has been external scientific consultant for UN-ILO International Labour Organization, project visiting professor at the Asia-Europe Institute, State University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and at Catholic University of Paris – ICP. His main scientific interest and expertise is in citizenship social and political theories and applied studies on urban citizenship, digital citizenship, migration issues.

Achilles Kallergis

Assistant Professor and Director of the Project on Cities and Migration, Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility

Achilles Kallergis is an Assistant Professor at the New School for Social Research and the Director of the Cities and Migration Project at the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility. His research focuses on urbanization, migration, and mobility in rapidly growing cities. Specifically, it explores environmental mobility and how locally-generated data can provide new evidence on mobility patterns and contribute to improving living conditions in low-income destination areas through better provision of housing and services. In his research, he has collaborated with transnational community networks Slum/Shack Dwellers International and the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights.