Articles | Volume 81, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-603-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-603-2026
Standard article
 | 
15 Oct 2026
Standard article |  | 15 Oct 2026

Visible yet unseen: unpacking the (in)visibilities of food-delivery riders in public space

Emilia M. Bruck and Katarzyna Gruszka

Cited articles

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Altenried, M., Animento, S., and Bojadžijev, M.: Plattform-Urbanismus: Arbeit, Migration und die Transformation des urbanen Raums, s\u, 9, 73–91, https://doi.org/10.36900/suburban.v9i1/2.605, 2021. 
Attoh, K., Wells, K. J., and Cullen, D.: The work of waiting: migrant labour in the fulfillment city, J. Ethn. Migr. Stud., 50, 3839–3854, https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2024.2379649, 2024. 
Bauriedl, S. and Strüver, A.: Platform Urbanism: Technocapitalist Production of Private and Public Spaces, Urban Planning, 5, 267–276, https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v5i4.3414, 2020. 
Bauriedl, S. and Strüver, A.: Platformized Cities and Urban Life: An Introduction, in: Platformization of Urban Life, edited by: Strüver, A., and Bauriedl, S., transcript Verlag, 11–36, https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839459645-002, 2022. 
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Short summary
This article advances platform labour debates by exploring the visible invisibility paradox faced by food-delivery riders and expanding an existing analytical framework on platform-mediated (in)visibility. Drawing on empirical vignettes, it shows how riders negotiate economic, institutional, and cultural recognition in public space. It thereby raises the broader societal question of how to maintain public space as open to all, amid ongoing platformisation.
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