Pie in the sky: exploring food practices amongst those living in apartments within Melbourne, Australia

ABSTRACT

A major change is occurring in the way Australians live, as high-rise apartments are increasingly replacing low-density detached housing in Australian cities. In this piece we discuss recent pilot work undertaken that explores the links between apartment living and food practices in Melbourne, Australia. Detailed analysis is planned on this data, but we maintain the value of presenting this preliminary work as a praxis to promote the potential importance of this topic. Clarifying the relationship and unpacking the connections between apartment size, kitchen design, neighbourhood character, and food practices, will allow a set of recommendations to facilitate healthy eating which can be used by different levels of government and those concerned with public health, as well as those involved in apartment design and development and neighbourhood planning.

KEYWORDS:

• Apartment
• food practices
• population density
• urban planning
• kitchen

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

The pilot work undertaken was funded by an internal seed funding grant received from the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University.

Notes on contributors

Lukar Thornton

Lukar Thornton is an Associate Professor within the Institute of Physical Activity and Nutrition Research (IPAN) at Deakin University, Australia. His training spans the disciplines of social science, geography, epidemiology, and public health. Dr Thornton currently leads a program of research exploring associations between neighbourhood environments and health behaviours with a focus on food environments and food behaviours. He has been invited to contribute to several policy-documents aimed at the development of health-promoting built environments.

Stephanie Rich

Stephanie Rich has a background in health promotion and public health, and has worked in research, health promotion and social policy in the areas of women's health, gender equity, refugee health and community safety.

Louise Johnson

Louise Johnson is Professor in Australian Studies and Geography at Deakin University. A human geographer, she has researched the gendered nature of suburban houses, changing manufacturing workplaces as well as the dynamics of Australian regional economies. Major publications include Suburban Dreaming (DUP 1994), Placebound: Australian Feminist Geographies (OUP 2000), Cultural Capitals: Revaluing the Arts. Remaking Urban Spaces (Ashgate 2009) and Planning in Indigenous Australia: From Imperial Foundations to Postcolonial Futures (Taylor and Francis 2018 with Sue Jackson and Libby Porter). She is currently researching social and spatial polarisation in Geelong and affordable housing as a co-leader of the HOME research hub.

Ralph Horne

Ralph Horne is Professor of Geography and Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research and Innovation for the College of Design and Social Context at RMIT University. He is interested in social and policy change to support sustainable urban development, and has a specific research interest in equitable low carbon urban transitions, housing and households. He combines research leadership and participation in research projects concerning the environmental, social and policy context of production and consumption in the urban environment.

Fiona Andrews

Fiona Andrews, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University, School of Health and Social Development, Co-Leader of the Deakin Research Hub HOME, and member of the Centre for Health through Action on Social Exclusion (CHASE). She has research interests and has published on the relationship between neighbourhoods, health and families, with a particular focus on parents of preschool-aged children. She lectures in healthy cities; family health and well-being; health, place and planning.