Articles | Volume 81, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-651-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/gh-81-651-2026
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27 Oct 2026
Standard article |  | 27 Oct 2026

Extending the platform debate beyond cities: assessing the scale and scope of platform-mediated childcare work in Switzerland

Corinna Hertweck, Aniko Hannak, and Karin Schwiter

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Cited articles

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Ecker, Y., Lukowsky, M., and Wecker, M.: Counter-mapping platformization. Rethinking the spatial differentiation of platform control, labor relations and restaurant virtualization in proprietary markets for food-delivery, Digital Geography and Society, 8, 100107, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diggeo.2024.100107, 2025. 
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This paper challenges the assumption that platform work is predominantly an urban phenomenon. It reflects on scraping platform data as a feminist method. It is based on 58 000 scraped worker profiles from 8 childcare platforms in Switzerland. It finds a highly concentrated market and a feminised surplus workforce but only a very weak correlation between population density and user profiles. Thus, we argue that the debate on platformisation must be extended beyond cities.
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