Localized processes of platformization: The example of Surabaya

This article analyzes how universalist paradigms for platform urbanism are being adapted, modulated, and subverted through an evolving platform ecosystem that is specific to the city of Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city. We examine how processes of urban planning and city management are...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alessandra Renzi, Janna Frenzel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-06-01
Series:Big Data & Society
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517251338776
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850032209420877824
author Alessandra Renzi
Janna Frenzel
author_facet Alessandra Renzi
Janna Frenzel
author_sort Alessandra Renzi
collection DOAJ
description This article analyzes how universalist paradigms for platform urbanism are being adapted, modulated, and subverted through an evolving platform ecosystem that is specific to the city of Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city. We examine how processes of urban planning and city management are platformized, how specific groups of professionals and residents act as intermediaries between infrastructure and users and thereby facilitate the platformization process, and how these local iterations of platforms are informed by place-specific colonial and national history. By describing and tracing the genealogy of Surabaya's platform ecosystem, we demonstrate the specific ways in which it rationalizes city governance, shapes discourses on participatory citizenship and spatial planning, and redefine what counts as city infrastructure, innovation, and urban life in general. We argue that the modulation, adaptation, and resistance to platformization can only be understood by paying attention to the singularity of the milieu and tracing how visions of modernity and its sociotechnical assemblages are composed anew every time platform frameworks, tech tools, and discourses hit the ground.
format Article
id doaj-art-fe81098ef30f48adb5d24dd1e46bc4f4
institution DOAJ
issn 2053-9517
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher SAGE Publishing
record_format Article
series Big Data & Society
spelling doaj-art-fe81098ef30f48adb5d24dd1e46bc4f42025-08-20T02:58:43ZengSAGE PublishingBig Data & Society2053-95172025-06-011210.1177/20539517251338776Localized processes of platformization: The example of SurabayaAlessandra RenziJanna FrenzelThis article analyzes how universalist paradigms for platform urbanism are being adapted, modulated, and subverted through an evolving platform ecosystem that is specific to the city of Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city. We examine how processes of urban planning and city management are platformized, how specific groups of professionals and residents act as intermediaries between infrastructure and users and thereby facilitate the platformization process, and how these local iterations of platforms are informed by place-specific colonial and national history. By describing and tracing the genealogy of Surabaya's platform ecosystem, we demonstrate the specific ways in which it rationalizes city governance, shapes discourses on participatory citizenship and spatial planning, and redefine what counts as city infrastructure, innovation, and urban life in general. We argue that the modulation, adaptation, and resistance to platformization can only be understood by paying attention to the singularity of the milieu and tracing how visions of modernity and its sociotechnical assemblages are composed anew every time platform frameworks, tech tools, and discourses hit the ground.https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517251338776
spellingShingle Alessandra Renzi
Janna Frenzel
Localized processes of platformization: The example of Surabaya
Big Data & Society
title Localized processes of platformization: The example of Surabaya
title_full Localized processes of platformization: The example of Surabaya
title_fullStr Localized processes of platformization: The example of Surabaya
title_full_unstemmed Localized processes of platformization: The example of Surabaya
title_short Localized processes of platformization: The example of Surabaya
title_sort localized processes of platformization the example of surabaya
url https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517251338776
work_keys_str_mv AT alessandrarenzi localizedprocessesofplatformizationtheexampleofsurabaya
AT jannafrenzel localizedprocessesofplatformizationtheexampleofsurabaya