Gastronomy in neighbourhood planning
The demand for individual and novel gastronomy is growing. Gastronomy in neighbourhood planning finds itself in multi-faceted guises and in ever new contexts. We believe that the gastrospace of the future is multifunctional and can be experienced – and takes on an important role as an identity provider. Especially in growing cities and new urban districts, the gastrospace has a new and exciting function.
Gastronomy appears in a new context
The demand for individual and novel gastronomy is growing. Gastronomy in neighbourhood planning finds itself in multi-faceted guises and in ever new contexts. We believe that the gastrospace of the future is multifunctional and can be experienced – and takes on an important role as an identity provider. Especially in growing cities and new urban districts, the gastrospace has a new and exciting function. We are increasingly seeing developments like that of the Ministry of Sound in London: the legendary nightclub has been extended by co-working spaces with a restaurant, bar and even uses such as a cinema. Retail is also increasingly showing its connection to gastronomy: the beauty brand Shiseido recently demonstrated the texture of its products in campaigns with the help of edible snacks that customers could enjoy on site.
The background to this fusion of gastronomy with other areas of society is obvious: gastronomy offers added value as a complement almost everywhere. As an additional touchpoint, gastronomy helps to create a space for social interaction with a high quality of service, which increases the duration and quality of a stay. This creates a new dimension of experience in stores, hotels, offices and public places, which also functions as an additional source of revenue.
Neighbourhoods – A new ecosystem within neighbourhoods
Historically, individual city districts and outlying areas have increasingly merged into a metropolis, resulting in the emergence of conurbations throughout the country. Within the metropolises, the counter-trend to urbanisation and alienation is growing today: Identity with one’s own neighbourhood. We are increasingly observing how the sense of community in one’s own “neighbourhood” is strengthened and a community of cohesion is emerging. The authenticity of a neighbourhood is increasingly reflected by its residents, its gastronomic and entertainment offerings and the general street scene. This results in differentiated and multi-faceted “micro-local identities” within a large city. From this development, the neighbourhood, as a smaller version of the “Kiez”, can be derived as a new independent ecosystem. An ecosystem with a strong identity of its own that functions as an importantthird place alongside the home and workplace. It is not for nothing that restaurants and hotels rank fifth after housing, food, transport and leisure in the list of personal expenditures of an average person.
The hotel as a microversion of a neighbourhood
Like the neighbourhood, the hotel can be its own ecosystem with strong identity potential. Modern hotels understand that hospitality means more than just offering an uncomplicated place to sleep. The modern hotel offers guests space to work (co-working), a more or less broad range of gastronomy and, increasingly, shopping opportunities.
