This is a research project exploring the place-making, community-building and post-pandemic recovery dynamics around ethnic food shops in the British high street. The project originated as an idea in 2020 among a team of researchers from Kingston University London and currently has partners among community groups, local authorities and other researchers. Currently, our investigation follows three intersecting dimensions.

Dimensions of the Project

Place Making

What is the role of ethnic food shops in making the difference? Why do some urban areas invite outsiders with their difference, illustrated and epitomised by the ethnic food shop, while others scare them?

These are some of the questions we explore through the prism of the ethnic food shop as an indispensable physical-spatial element of the urban landscape and as an active participant in the urban place-making dynamics.

Building Community

Ethnic food shops are often the centre of their respective ethnic communities and, especially in the case of newly-arrived migrants, the first point of contact with the local urban surroundings. They become embedded in their local communities and reach out to them or support them in numerous tangible and intangible ways. Positioning an ethnic culinary culture in a visible way, ethnic food shops project and stabilise cultural identities around food and the act of eating together, but they also mould cultural identities by adopting new practices and products.

How these social processes of community building and inclusion work and how the cultural practices of food and culinary identities are deployed are questions explored in this dimension of the project.

Post – Pandemic Recovery

Beyond ethnic difference and migration, ethnic food shops are essential businesses in the British high street and their adaptation and survival is essential to post-pandemic recovery and the economic capacity of an urban region.

Working in close relationships with their local communities, ethnic food shops have played an active role in responding to the pandemic and its emergencies: providing food aid to marginalised people, responding to supply chain disruptions and pandemic-induced demand for specific products, navigating the changes in the business landscape ushered by the pandemic (increase in delivery services, the emergence of virtual kitchens, the shortage of personnel, the shifting public health requirements).

How have business responded and adapted to the pandemic and what is their role in post-pandemic recovery is the object of investigation in this dimension of the project.

News and Events

Designing London’s Recovery I In partnership with Design Council and UCL CUSSH

On a mission to realise a greener, fairer and prosperous city, the Mayor of London seeded 11 diverse innovators to pilot a post-pandemic future. Discover a portfolio of exemplar projects driving green growth, building stronger communities, helping Londoners into good work and activating our high streets.

The official blurb of the event is here.

Here you can find information on the other projects in the DLR 2022 cohort.

We set up our exhibit space at the Sackler Centre for Arts & Education at the V&A Museum for #LDF22.

23 Sep 2022, Kingston, Voices of Hope Celebration of Brite Box!

Ethnic food and ethnic food shops participate in an amazing free scheme delivered to hundreds of primary school children in three London boroughs. We were part of the research team evaluating the scheme and we celebrated with the amazing people delivering it.

Kingston University London’s Faculty of Business and Social Sciences’ 2022 Research Conference

We presented the project at Kingston University London’s Faculty of Business and Social Sciences’ 2022 Research Conference on 1st July 2022.

9 March 2022, London Metropolitan University

‘Feeding Britain’ project meeting where we spoke about community entrepreneurship and food insecurity

Podcast on Ethnic Food Shops for Community Inclusion

A podcast of Nevena Nancheva’s presentation on Ethnic Food Shops for Community Inclusion can be found here.

The presentation featured a spotlight on one of the communities we have been working with, Harringay Green Lanes (around Harringay Overground), which was not always vibrant with diversity and heavily “Turkish” food focused.


Powered by WordPress.com.