Urban space and digital platforms: Commuting journeys and working conditions of bicycle delivery workers in the metropolis of São Paulo

Espace urbain et plateformes numériques: déplacements et conditions de travail des livreurs à vélo dans la métropole de São Paulo

Abstract

This article examines the imbrication between urban space and work by digital platforms in the metropolis of São Paulo, Brazil. Focusing on commuting journeys and the working conditions of iFood delivery workers who use electric bicycles. Interviews and field observations were carried out as research techniques, between January and April 2022, complemented by bibliographic and documentary research. The results show that the long-distance and time-consuming travels made by these workers between the various peripheries of the metropolis and some centralities with high potential for making deliveries. The ways in which spatial inequality manifests and reproduces itself in the commuting patterns of the deliverers are then evidenced, reaffirming the center-periphery relationship. By unveiling the working and living conditions of bicycle delivery workers, the articulation between ultra-precarious forms of platform work and urban space is made explicit.

Keywords: urban space; digital platforms; bicycle delivery workers; iFood