Urban landscape is ever-changing. Living in a city might mean encountering something new, or more specifically, moving with something new. Intersecting movements are what makes a city a living organism. Countless people and various forms of transport move in different directions at different paces.
A few years ago, new things joined these urban movements – riders zipping around the streets carrying a huge cubic bag, wearing an iconic uniform and helmet. I saw them in London, Liverpool, Cambridge, and Seoul. Many of us now know who they are and why they are riding at a light speed. They are partners of Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Baemin, food delivery platforms.
I was startled by the explosion of delivery riders in such a short period, the platforms’ ability to coordinate millions of deliveries with this atomised workforce, and ordinary city dwellers becoming part of this network by simply logging into an app. On the other hand, despite the advancements in digital technology, algorithms, and robots, it still demands a lot of humans to transport food. Without these human riders, a seamless micro-logistics chain won’t be possible.
The convenience of app-based food ordering/delivery seems to have made urban life smarter. Customers order and receive food with a few taps. Riders, using their smartphones and bikes (or scooters), perfectly complete each and every delivery task. From order to delivery, all coordination is done through the app’s interface on a 5-inch screen. However, just like every great art and technology, it takes the continuous and deliberate efforts of various parties to make it work again and again.
I set out to explore how those parties assemble and work together through a 4-year project. This will hint at the foundation on which our smart urban life depends — in other words, what might tear it down, what kind of smart city is being created, and who is invited to build it in what ways and for whom — and crucially, it will lets us reflect on whether this is the city we wanted to build.
Image credits:
Jared Murray on Unsplash
Edinburgh News