Hospitable urban spaces and diversity

The production and consumption of food plays a highly visible and vital role in the public life of cities and in the creation of hospitable public spaces. Food acts as a vehicle for facilitating sustenance and sociability to urban spaces. The application of Modernist principles in post-war urban redevelopment projects led to urban sprawl, which in turn led to more economic and social action taking place at the edge of cities and suburbs, rather than in the centre, where it used to be. Issues of ‘food and the city’ are being discussed in current literature, however, to date there has been no systematic analysis undertaken to indicate which form of integrating food and the city is more beneficial to the social lives of cities. This article investigates two forms of food-centred space within the city, the gastronomic quarter of the city and the food court of the shopping mall, and establishes the differences and connections between the two environments. Using Jane Jacobs’ theory of diversity as a framework, the article explores the effects mall food courts and gastronomic quarters have on the city, and whether and how these environments contribute to the diversity and vitality of urban space.