Abstract

Urbanism – the study of human settlement – does not stop at city edges but is a something that can be explored in a range of contexts with rural elements – including transforming peri-urban zones, areas of megaloplitan sprawl and wider productive regions. As cities have grown beyond their traditional spatial boundaries a highly functional food related urbanism has been challenged and undercut all along the food chain from production, through distribution to retailing, consumption and waste.

Spatialised design, planning and economic issues can be seen at a variety of scales. Not only do productive peripheries suffer from the presumption of primacy for urban development but wider urban conurbations threaten food spaces and landscapes and the specificity of gastronomic regions is undercut by globalizing agribusiness. Both conviviality and sustainability have suffered serious harm as a result.

Drawing on my current book Food and Urbanism (Bloomsbury, 2015) the reflection essay looks at some problematic – and more positive – connections between food and urbanism at each of these scales. I explore how conscious attention to food-centred design and retrofitting can support rural urbanism in future.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherAx:son Foundation
Commissioning bodyAx:son Foundation
Number of pages9
Publication statusPublished - 2014

Keywords

  • conviviality
  • food
  • rural life

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Food, conviviality and urbanism in a rural context'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this