Subtracting and extracting circulation: Logistics as power in the digitisation of the London Underground

This paper traces the growing influence of logistics as power in the governance of the London Underground, a system of public transportation in the midst of multiple processes of digitisation, connecting trains and passengers deep below ground to systems of real-time monitoring and communication. Such processes are often explained through the framework of the ‘smart city’. However, the paper argues that this is an unsatisfactory approach which fails to account for the unique combination of requirements underlying the transition: the need to make circulations resilient to risks whilst simultaneously increasing revenues in light of significant funding cuts. Instead, the article builds upon a set of theories of logistics as a form of power constituted through the amalgamation of ‘subtractive’ and ‘extractive’ aspects of circulatory governance. On the one hand logistics aims to ensure circulations by managing their frictions; on the other it attempts to extract added value from the circulations it ensures. The paper illustrates this duality by examining both the involvement of private logistics specialists in the Underground’s digitisation, and Transport for London’s emerging use of passenger WiFi data for the purposes of both resilience and value extraction. The article’s latter sections examine the broader socio-political implications of logistical power for how urban infrastructures are used and experienced.