The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces

"If you want to seed a place with activity, put food in it." 

In my research I came across the mentions of William H. Whyte's The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (Both a book and film) as a great resource for guidelines to design public spaces specifically for eating lunch. The film is a first hand account of observations made in downtown Manhattan of people interacting with public spaces and with each other. Although the film is over 20 years old, the principles still apply and the movie was really informative- especially in it's food section.

Whyte says that if you want to seed a place with activity, you should put food in it. He praises food carts and temporary lunchtime food services as rendez-vous points, and gossip stations, fuelling social interaction. He recounts the wildfire effect of the carts, as one popped up, others quickly followed suit. When people saw other people eating at the carts, they too joined in and as the number of carts rose, so did the demand for them.

Although foodtrucks weren't directly mentioned, as at that time they weren't the main means of temporary urban food facilities, his theories about food carts and lunchtime only cafes are extremely applicable as they serve the same function. He talks of how the carts started out as obstructions, but then became amenities. When this perception shift occurred many public places brought in supporting infrastructure such as tables, chairs and umbrellas. These informal foodcarts became part of a more formal structure and we then able to better serve their patrons.

Whyte gave a great overview of food's relationship with urban public spaces and expressed how they are a vibrant part of the social fabric. He coined the term triangulation- the ability of a space to bring people together, one of foodtruck's greatest strengths as a part of the urban community.