Digital platforms as contact zones

Urban reshaping and colonial aesthetics in Palermo

Bibliographic Data

ID13135865
AuthorsJonas Aegerter (University of Palermo, corresponding author), Ola Söderström (0000-0002-7111-8765, University of Neuchâtel)
Year2025
Volume9
Pages100127-100127
Publication date2025-06-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDigital Geography and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2666-3783 • E-ISSN: 2666-3783
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.diggeo.2025.100127
OpenAlexW4411022934
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited55

This article contributes to literature on digital platforms as place-makers by developing the concept of the “platform as contact zone”. Envisaging platforms as variously layered “contact zones”, we show how platforms today play a pivotal role in the organization of exchanges and transactions between local actors and visitors, both on-line and on site. Drawing on a case study in Palermo, Sicily, we show that reviews on digital platforms have become important “scripts” for the production of urban space in touristified cities. Analysing mundane, often invisible, urban interventions conducted by hosts – such as evicting squatters or adding street lighting – the article reflects on how reviews as scripts contribute to produce an urban landscape shaped by a neo-colonial aesthetic. We conclude with a cautionary note regarding the temptation to over-emphasize platform power and a call for further nuanced studies of the non-linear urban effects of platforms as contact zones

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Geography · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Sharing Economy and Platforms · Smart Cities and Technologies