Creative Food Nodes. Innovating the role of Urban Markets in the Cosmopolitan habitat

The relations between the supply and movement of food have been crucial since the foundation of our urban society. In considering the calls for collective action to confront future territorial and societal challenges, the role of food as an urban material involves a range of factors and socio-spatial arrangements that identify resilient food systems as an integral part of Lefebvre’s notion of “the right to the city”. ‘Food nodes’ present an example of the spatial significance of transitional places where everyday social practices, intercultural exchanges, and creative co-creation can foster the idea of a Cosmopolitan Habitat. Based on the research-by-design outputs of the European project “Creative Food Cycles”, this paper represents a methodological reflection on the spatial implications of food-led regeneration processes alongside a collection of international practices that support the urban role of food nodes in increasing unplanned sociability and cultural mixité, and proposes short-term actions for long-term changes.