Spatial Planning Pathways for Neighborhood Food Environment Optimization
Abstract：
Creating a favorable neighborhood food environment not only facilitates residents’ access to safer and healthier food but also promotes local food production and consumption, reduces food waste, and encourages low-carbon living. By examining planning documents from 24 international cities and regions, and using planning text content analysis as the analytical techniques, the author introduces Western practices in optimizing community food environments. This analysis is conducted from the perspective of the “vision-goals-strategies-policies-actions” planning elements, covering four key stages: vision description, developing objectives and polices, formulation and implementation, and supervision and evaluation. Focusing on different stages of spatial planning, particular attention is paid to the formulation and implementation stage, with specific recommendations proposed to utilize master plans, detailed plans, and specialized plans to promote the optimization of neighborhood food environments in China. Recommendations during the planning formulation stage aim to achieve effective transmission from vision to action. Recommendations during the planning implementation stage emphasize utilizing and innovating existing planning management tools and advancing the formulation of specialized plans for food implementation.