Food and Urbanism : The Convivial City and a Sustainable Future

Cities are home to over fifty percent of the world's population, a figure which is expected to increase enormously by 2050. Despite the growing demand on urban resources and infrastructure, food is still often overlooked as a key factor in planning and designing cities. Without incorporating food into the design process – how it is grown, transported, and bought, cooked, eaten and disposed of – it is impossible to create truly resilient and convivial urbanism. Moving from the table and home garden to the town, city, and suburbs, __Food and Urbanism__ explores the connections between food and place in past and present design practices. The book also looks to future methods for extending the 'gastronomic' possibilities of urban space. Supported by examples from places across the world, including the UK, Norway, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Australia and the USA, the book offers insights into how the interplay of physical design and socio-spatial practices centred around food can help to maintain socially rich, productive and sustainable urban space. Susan Parham brings together the latest research from a number of disciplines – urban planning, food studies, sociology, geography, and design – with her own fieldwork on a range of foodscapes to highlight the fundamental role food has to play in shaping the urban future. Title Page Copyright Page Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Preface Introduction Food, scale and urbanism Food, embodiment and visceral geographies Food, spatiality and political economy/ecology Food as a spatial design matter Food, traditional design and modernism Food, urbanism, taste and justice Conviviality as a framing element Sustainability, the modern food system and urbanism Part 1 Food, Domesticity and Design Chapter 1 Starting with the Table Introduction ‘Where is urbanism and why do we care about tables?’ The paradoxical kitchen Ask the experts Food at home Domestic food space in review Chapter 2 The Garden and Gastronomy Introduction The productive garden situated Contemporary practices in domestic food production Connecting the house and garden through food Reanimating the productive garden Design requirements for vegetable gardens Implications for the gastronomic garden The chapter in review Part 2 Gastronomy and the Urbanism of Public Space Chapter 3 Food’s Outdoor Room Introduction Situating food markets as outdoor rooms Food markets at the heart of urban space Food markets and the development of the modern city Food markets maintained: food markets revived Diversity and adaption: London food markets as an example Farmers’ markets and hybrid markets Markets as designed spaces – lessons from primary research Food’s outdoor room in review Chapter 4 The Gastronomic Townscape Introduction Situating food shops and food streets Street food transformed Food vans and pods: pop ups and night markets Gastronomic townscape as designed space Slow food spaces and courts Café cultures and spaces Conviviality and the kopitiam Snack bars and gastronomic niches Eating out: inns, taverns and modern restaurant spaces Restaurants as designed space Taking over streets for dining The gastronomic townscape in review Chapter 5 Ambivalent Suburbia Introduction Food and the burgeoning of suburbia Food and the three magnets Food and post-war suburbia – rise of the ‘smoke fiend’ and other influences Supermarkets and shopping strips – rise and decline Cars and suburban food space Food, shopping centres and malls Shopping malls, food and civic engagement Traditional food shops and spaces and the transformation of ‘big box’ stores Suburban space shaping, food courts and fast food Suburban food space in review Chapter 6 Convivial Green Space Introduction Have we always grown food in cities? Urban agriculture as a resilience strategy Urban food growing – sustainable urbanism implications Convivial green spatiality Allotments – decline and revival The emergence of urban agriculture as a movement – urbanism implications Urban agricultural projects – community gardens, urban orchards and beyond What are the design requirements for urban food growing? Green space and food consumption Convivial green space as public policy Convivial green space in review Part 3 Food Space and Urbanism on the Edge Chapter 7 The Productive Periphery Introduction Historic food practice at the urban edge Edge space for pleasure Exploring the contemporary urban edge theoretically in food terms Contemporary practice in urban edge food space Why urban edge food space matters: sustainability arguments Urban edges – contemporary food transformations Reconfiguring food’s relationship to urbanism on the edge? The urban edge as a gastronomic tourism landscape – real and imagined Exploring peri-urban food space – an Italian case study Design responses to the peri-urban as food space The productive periphery in review Chapter 8 The Megalopolitan Food Realm Introduction The developing post-urban context for food space Exploring the post-suburban world as food space – the emergence of privatopia Supermarkets, hypermarkets, malls Food, business parks and distribution spaces Food and the car Food’s retreat from the public realm Gastronomic marginalization: fast food, food deserts and obesogenic environments Sustainability and urban design: retrofitting sprawl food space The megalopolitan food realm in review Chapter 9 The Critical Food Region Introduction Situating food regions historically in spatial practice The example of Tuscan mezzadria Situating today’s food regions and regionalism Regional food policy – place-based approaches Alternative food networks – global connections and local food movements Case studies of regional food and convivial urbanism Slow Food as a contested expression of food-centred regionalism Regional food and terroir Appellation and other place-specific branding systems for food Regional food tourism Regional food tourism’s connections to spatiality and design Food buildings and spaces Rise of regional food policy and design guidance The critical food region in review Conclusion: Food and Urbanism in Review A reminder about some key themes Looking chapter by chapter Some final thoughts Bibliography Index "Cities are now home to over fifty per cent of the world's population, but the contribution of food to shaping cities is often overlooked. Food matters in designing and planning cities because how it is grown, transported, bought, cooked, eaten, cleaned up and disposed of has significant effects on creating a sustainable, resilient and convivial urban future. The book explores methods for extending the gastronomic possibilities of urban space - from the scale of the table to the metropolis. Using a wealth of examples from cities worldwide, the book explores how physical design and socio-spatial arrangements focused on food can help maintain socially rich, productive and sustainable urban space. Underpinning the book's analysis of food and cities is the view that decisions about a hyper-urban future should recognise the fundamental role of food. Food and Urbanism provides an original and new contribution to food scholarship; exploring some intriguing research questions about the ways that food, urbanism and sustainable conviviality interconnect" -- Orbis Yale University Library "Cities are now home to over fifty per cent of the world's population, but the contribution of food to shaping cities is often overlooked. Food matters in designing and planning cities because how it is grown, transported, bought, cooked, eaten, cleaned up and disposed of has significant effects on creating a sustainable, resilient and convivial urban future. The book explores methods for extending the gastronomic possibilities of urban space - from the scale of the table to the metropolis. Using a wealth of examples from cities worldwide, the book explores how physical design and socio-spatial arrangements focused on food can help maintain socially rich, productive and sustainable urban space. Underpinning the book's analysis of food and cities is the view that decisions about a hyper-urban future should recognise the fundamental role of food. Food and Urbanism provides an original and new contribution to food scholarship; exploring some intriguing research questions about the ways that food, urbanism and sustainable conviviality interconnect"-- Provided by publisher