CfP: special issue of the Journal of Urbanism: "Food and Urbanism"

The focus of this special issue of the Journal of Urbanism is to explore and extend our knowledge and understanding of the ways that food and urbanism interconnect in diverse urbanism contexts worldwide. As is increasingly clear, food is a critical aspect of urbanism: an insight sharpened by the connected and worsening issues of inequality and climate change we face globally. The complex roles food plays are now the object of research in a number of disciplines, as well as in cross-disciplinary work, in urban design, planning, architecture, geography, sociology, anthropology, urban history, gastronomy, political economy and more. For this special issue, we call for papers that explore, generally through a primary research focus, the ways that food influences placemaking and can help or hinder sustainable urbanism outcomes. The aim is to add to the body of knowledge about food and urbanism with a view to advancing both conceptual and theoretical frameworks and showcasing specific applied research findings. We welcome papers concentrating on (but not limited to) a range of urbanism scales that might extend from the domestic to the region, a diversity of food centred research sites, and in relation to any aspect or aspects of the food system from production, through distribution, exchange, consumption, and 'waste'.
While we do not wish to constrain the breadth of papers that may be submitted, examples of possible topics include:
  • The urbanism of food in the domestic sphere - including kitchens, dining rooms, and gardens
  • Foodscapes within 'traditional' urban spaces including markets, shops, cafes, restaurants etc
  • The relationship to food and urbanism to evolving experiences of public space
  • Sustainable urban design and food at any stage along the food chain from production to retailing,      consumption and 'waste'
  • Food production and distribution landscapes - including urban, peri-urban and regional contexts
  • Food and urbanism in suburbia, post suburbia and megalopolis
  • Gender and sustainable urbanism in relation to food
  • The urbanism of urban agriculture including 'transect' and other design-led approaches
  • Urbanism and urban food design and planning policy
The papers will be subject to a double blind peer review process, and the successful submissions will be included in the Journal of Urbanism special issue.
More details are available from the guest editor below.


Deadline for final paper submission: September 1, 2017