Civic Crowdfunding as Urban Digital Platform in Milan and Amsterdam: Don’t take pictures on a rainy day!

Abstract

Cities are a conducive context for the emergence of digital platforms and at the same time cities are reshaped by the digital spaces that are created by these platforms. The key features that set Urban Digital Platforms (UDPs) apart from other digital platforms are the allocation of public goods and services at an urban scale (via P2P transaction), and their orientation towards civic and grassroots initiatives in area’s which the local state agencies have a significant role in steering urban development patterns. This article explores the spaces and realms of interactions and engagements which ‘urban digital platform(s) (UDPs) have created in two prominent European cities, Milan and Amsterdam. By focusing on civic crowdfunding initiatives, it shows that digital platforms not only unleash societal initiatives but also have the potential to fundamentally change (urban) political processes, as their gatekeeping principles provide a powerful frame by which projects are selected. This paper sheds light on how platform urbanism and the new lens of digital geography are critical in investigating ‘alternative platforms’ as civic crowdfunding and their mutual co-constitution between technology, sociality, and spatiality.