We Are All Platform Urbanists Now – Mediapolis

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The ‘Age of the Platform’1 – or perhaps, more colloquially, “the uberisation of everything” is now well advanced. The successful execution of platform strategy by the world’s dominant global digital platforms – now simply known as GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple) – has left management consultants everywhere championing the platform business model as a new blueprint for competition. Any company, big or small, incumbent or disruptor, will read up on platform strategy in an effort to scale. Public institutions, too, are being urged to adopt the ‘Government as a Platform’ (GaaP) playbook in order to create public value for coming generations. When we consider the platform through its underlying business strategy or ‘platform-play’, we move beyond understanding platforms as individual companies, or bright, colourful and somewhat addictive apps. And indeed, seen in this light, the mighty influence of platforms appears more troubling. Platforms are now theorised as noxious markets; mon

Sarah Barns argues that a platform urbanism should be more than a focus of academic critique, but also a site for radical appropriations of urban space. [Ed. note: this post is part of a Roundtable discussion on “Platform Urbanism.” For more background on the discussion and to view other posts in the series, see here.] The ‘Age of the Platform’1Simon, Phil. The Age of the Platform: How Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google Have Redefined Business. BookBaby, 2011. – or perhaps, more colloquially, “the uberisation of everything” is now well advanced. The successful execution of platform…

We Are All Platform Urbanists Now – Mediapolis

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