A City Eating Itself (in less than 10 minutes)

A City Eating Itself (in less than 10 minutes) is a design research & interactive storytelling project, exploring the impact of on-demand delivery services on the social fabric of Amsterdam. With the rise of the platform economy, affect lab noticed a shift – from the city as a space for chance encounters and neighbourly interaction to a place of individualist consumption, catalysed by pandemic lockdowns.

A City Eating Itself focuses on one form of consumption: on-demand delivery services, known as flash delivery (flitsbezorging in Dutch). In the fragile neo-pandemic climate, we saw a need for further research into these technology startups and a critical view of the impact they have on the diversity and liveness of neighbourhoods. Our work is guided by a central research question: What influence does flash delivery have on the social cohesion of Amsterdam? 

Book

In December 2023 we published A City Eating Itself (in less than 10 minutes). The publication documents our research findings and methodologies, from historical research to speculative world-building. You can order the book at our publication page.

Audio walk

Combining speculative fiction and months of  in-depth research with local residents, dark store workers and policy makers, the audio walk invites you to critically explore the future of on-demand delivery in Amsterdam.  

Dates
April-July 2023

Pre-study publication

Sensory Field Notes: The Diary of a Dark Store Worker

This autobiographical series contains fascinating and terrifying field notes written by an anonymous member of the affect lab family (known only as DSW) who has also been working a side hustle as a flash delivery picker and rider. Flink, Gorillas, Getir and Zapp. These are a few of the big names in flash delivery services in Amsterdam. 

DSW gives us a first-hand account, drawn from hundreds of hours of work. Packing sugary snacks in brown bags, hauling heavy crates of beers out of the basement and riding them in under 10 minutes to customers in the driving rain. These are just some examples of the visceral labour demanded of her as a Quick Commerce Body. 

DSW’s sensory field notes form part of a larger research track that affect lab is currently developing in the field of Sensory Urbanism. Our belief is that what we hear, taste, smell and feel in our close environment shapes our sense of place and emotional connection to the city.