Food choice and the city: understanding the role of the built environment in healthy eating in metropolitan Sydney

Abstract

Food is fundamental to human existence and the functioning of cities. The current way of consuming food is responsible in part for the prevalence of diet-related non-communicable chronic illnesses in urban areas. Although individuals’ dietary patterns are often associated with varied psychological and socioeconomic factors, built environment factors can be important influencing factors of food choices. Whilst there is some evidence to suggest a link between access to food outlets and food consumption, it remains unclear how a wider range of built environment factors influence residents’ food choices. A deeper understanding of these relationships could reveal under-researched aspects of a healthy built environment. This thesis explores residents’ food choices in Sydney and investigates how characteristics of the built environment influence those decisions. Following a grounded theory methodology, this thesis uses thematic mapping techniques to select study neighbourhoods and qualitative methods to understand dietary behaviour patterns and the role of the built environment in food choice. A total of 41 participants, representing a range of ethnic backgrounds and levels of income, in three Sydney suburbs, Surry Hills, Dulwich Hill and Toongabbie, were selected for in-depth interviews. This thesis examines how the very personal day-to-day activity of choosing food, is being influenced by multiple interacting factors, and specifically, how that happens in three Sydney suburbs. It further reveals a framework of the role of the built environment in food choice. This thesis demonstrates that the built environment is a complex system of physical and socioeconomic functions that influence residents’ behaviour through a wide range of processes, and it affects food choices by enabling or constraining access to food options, sharing knowledge on healthy food and practising healthy lifestyles. This thesis has implications for urban planners and public health professionals to promote healthy eating for healthy cities.