Dr Noel Chung
- Research Affiliate
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About
Noel (also known as El) has completed her PhD in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cambridge, working under the supervision of Prof Jennifer Gabrys. Informed by her time in the tech industry, where she worked on the design side of digital products, she is interested in how different groups of people make sense of, collaborate with, or reappropriate new technological artefacts. Her doctoral project, ‘The Smart City in Motion,’ explored how food delivery apps bring together infrastructures, spaces, and movements, activating a particular kind of smartness in cities. The project focused on Baemin, the most used food delivery app in South Korea.
Before her PhD, Noel worked in management consulting in Seoul, data analytics consulting and technology in Seoul and London, and humanitarian aid in Nairobi and Garsen. She holds an MSc in Media, Communication and Development from the London School of Economics and a BA in Management from Peking University.
Awards
- The Hackers Bridge Scholarship, Hackers Education Group, South Korea
- Academic Excellence Scholarship, Peking University, China
- Overseas Study Scholarship, The Kwanjeong Educational Foundation, South Korea
Research
Research interests
- Science and Technology
- Science and technology studies (STS)
- Infrastructure studies
- Mobilities research
- Urban studies
- Smart urbanism
- Digital platforms
- Technology and work
Research Projects
PhD thesis ‘The Smart City in Motion: Food Delivery Apps as Mobile Infrastructure in Seoul’ (2020–2024)
Smart Forests (2022–2025)
Research Groups and Affiliations
- Affiliated PhD Student (2020–2024), Planetary Praxis
- Assistant Editor (2023–2024), Big Data & Society
- Member, EASST (European Association for the Study of Science and Technology)
- Member, 4S (Society for Social Studies of Science)
- Visiting Scholar (2021–2022), Asian Urban Societies, Seoul National University Asia Center
Publications
Journal Articles
- Chung, N. (2025). Friction-free cities and the rise of contactless and robotised delivery infrastructure. City. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13604813.2025.2506325.
- Chung, N. (2024). Thinking food delivery platforms infrastructurally: the practices and politics of Baemin’s infrastructuralisation in Seoul. New Technology, Work and Employment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/ntwe.12311
- Chung, N. (2024). Connected, programmed, and immobilised: a mobile ethnography of platform-mediated food delivery in Seoul. Mobilities, 19(4), 573–592. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450101.2024.2327845
Media Articles
Teaching and supervision
Undergraduate supervisions
- SOC7 Media, Culture and Society (2022–2025)
- SOC6 Advanced Social Theory (2022–2023)