ABSTRACT
Whilst PBSS are rapidly evolving and evidently can have a role to play in urban mobility systems, based on a case study of dockless bike-sharing in Shanghai (China), this chapter seeks to bring a much needed critical perspective to bear. In the first section we give an overview of surveillance capitalism, situating the emergence of PBSS2.0 as an articulation of this within the smart city. In the following sections we examine the origins and expansion of PBSS2.0 in Shanghai, arguing that its origins in tech companies, funding by both venture capital and internet giants, and rapid expansion all mirror the development of other surveillance capital firms and suggest the need for scale, scope and action.
In line with this, this chapter takes the idea of mobility fixing in a slightly different direction, arguing that PBSS2.0 represents a form of mobility fixing because, in bringing together physical and virtual mobility, new opportunities for accumulation emerge with the potential for already existing or induced behaviours to be rendered productive. In such a reading, the surfeit of mobility (in this case cycling) produced by unsustainable land-use patterns in the modern city represents a surplus of labour that previously could not be put to productive use but is now harnessed through its insertion in digital architectures.
