From bytes to bricks: Advocating for a turn toward platform-led infrastructuralization in economic geography

Abstract

While it is widely accepted that digital platforms rely on and reorganize existing (physical) infrastructure, most research assumes that these platforms operate with minimal physical assets. This paper discusses the phenomenon of platform-led infrastructuralization. The core argument is that platform-led infrastructuralization occurs when digital platforms actively engage in designing, funding, and operating the physical infrastructures necessary not only for their own functioning but also for the broader economy. This involvement enables platforms to expand and consolidate their technological ecosystems and market reach. Using the e-commerce and logistics sector as a case study, the paper illustrates how platforms strategically shape physical landscapes to further their interests and become critical chokepoints – online and offline. While these investments in the built environment consolidate corporate power and control over goods, services, and data flows, they also create vulnerabilities. The paper redefines the concepts of infrastructure and digital platforms, challenging the conventional view of platforms as primarily virtual entities by emphasizing their role in (actively) shaping the material world. In doing so, the paper calls for a more comprehensive inclusion of platforms’ entanglement with the built environment in platform research—a focus that economic geography is particularly well-equipped to address. The paper concludes by proposing new research directions for the future.