Disassembling Bike-Sharing Systems: Surveillance, Advertising, and the Social Inequalities of a Global Technological Assemblage

Abstract

The rapid expansion of bike-share systems worldwide has been praised as a sign of the environmental movement, with positive consequences for transportation, the economy, and health in urban areas. But is it really possible that politicians, information-technology companies, and global players such as banks and advertising firms have suddenly joined the ranks of those advocating bicycle use for the sake of the environment and a better quality of life in cities? Bike-share systems, like any other artifact, are a technological assemblage formed by technical, cultural, economic, and social factors and actors. When this assemblage stabilizes and is socially accepted, debate cools down and some unresolved features are put aside. We argue that disassembly of the bike-share system, highlighting the use of electronic keys, credit cards, and the strategic location of docks in upmarket urban areas, may enable us to unveil some of its features and reveal a more complex sociotechnical assemblage.