5 - Last Mile Infrastructures in Afro-Asia: Human, Logistics System and Environment

Paper Abstract: Technology in Euro-American rationalism has traditionally been taken as a tool for human control over nature. However, recent scholarship concerns that human agency has often been diminished in favour of technological determinism in shaping our environment. This study revisits the relationship between humans, technology, and nature. It draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Ghana (2023-2024) and Indonesia (2023) to examine how two Chinese tech companies, J&T Express and Speedaf Express, establish and optimize ‘last mile’ delivery networks across Asian-African geographic conditions.


The findings reveal that these companies have adapted concepts such as the ‘drop point,’ ‘agent model,’ and ‘delivery slip’ from their domestic market, fostering a collaborative interplay between humans, technology, and the built and unbuilt environments. Despite the increasing datafication of logistics, e-commerce delivery systems must integrate closely with local geographical conditions (e.g. archipelagic state and tropical climate), existing infrastructure (e.g. unpaved roads), and social networks (e.g. local neighbourhood). Thus, the ‘last mile’ presents multiple technological pathways, with datafication unable to completely diminish the role of human and environmental factors. However, the study also highlights the potential risks of managing cities as profit-driven enterprises rather than as public services. This paper offers insights into digital transformation, smart cities, and regulatory dynamics in the contemporary world.