Speakers
Description
The food environment is a critical determinant of residents' nutrition and health. With the changing lifestyles and the rapid development of food delivery services in China, the food environment has expanded beyond traditional in-person dining and home cooking, necessitating a redefinition to include online dimensions for a more comprehensive evaluation and improvement of residents' dietary behaviors. This shift has become even more significant in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the reliance on food delivery services due to restrictions on mobility, social distancing measures, and changes in consumer behavior. The pandemic underscores the importance of understanding how online food environments influence public health, as they have become a primary source of food access for many urban residents.
From a spatial perspective, the built environment significantly shapes the distribution of food delivery outlets and the logistics of delivery process, further shaping the community's food delivery environment. However, the specific impacts and mechanisms remain to be explored. Understanding the interplay between the built environment and food delivery environments is essential for developing targeted interventions to improve dietary behaviors and public health. This includes addressing challenges such as the uneven distribution of healthy food options, the affordability of nutritious meals, and the quality of food delivered to different neighborhoods. This research aims to provide a framework for evaluating and optimizing online food environments, contributing to more resilient and equitable urban food systems in the post-pandemic era.
Using Hangzhou, China, as a case study, this research employs spatial analysis and clustering methods to evaluate the community food delivery environment across four dimensions: food accessibility, availability, affordability, and quality. The results reveal that the food delivery environment in Hangzhou's central urban area can be categorized into food oases and three problematic types: food deserts, food swamps, and food mirages. Further analysis confirms that problematic food environments are more likely to emerge in areas with higher levels of urbanization and greater land-use diversity, such as vibrant urban zones. Additionally, different facilities and land-use types surrounding communities, as well as street connectivity—such as walkability and the distribution of primary and secondary roads—significantly influence these food environment types. Finally, the study proposes strategies from a spatial planning perspective to improve community food delivery environments.Firstly, in areas with higher levels of urbanization and greater land-use diversity, such as vibrant urban zones, it is crucial to prevent the emergence of problematic food environments. This includes paying attention to the healthiness of food offered by delivery outlets and implementing regulatory measures to avoid excessive price inflation. Secondly, specific attention should be given to the accessibility and availability of food delivery services around leisure and entertainment facilities, the quality of food delivery near tourist attractions, and both the quality and pricing of food delivery in core areas concentrated with commercial, business, educational, and medical resources. Lastly, in transportation planning, reducing the clustering of primary and secondary roads while creating convenient environments for walking and electric vehicle use can help optimize the online food environment.
References
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| Keywords | food delivery environment; built environment; spatial planning |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
