Gentrified food futures
How can community-led culinary initiatives reshape gentrification's narrative in urban neighborhoods?
Gentrified Gastronomic Futures dives deep into this question, using Mexico City's Cuauhtémoc neighborhood as a canvas for exploring the cultural and aesthetic impacts of urban gentrification through the lens of "comida corrida." Spearheaded by an interdisciplinary team, this project utilizes Ethnographic Experiential Futures (EXF) to craft a future where community, culture, and cuisine converge to resist the homogenizing forces of gentrification.
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In Cuauhtémoc, a neighborhood rich in history and tradition, rapid urban gentrification threatens to erase its unique cultural identity. This project identifies the homogenization of aesthetic and culinary practices as a key challenge, with traditional "comida corrida" restaurants at the heart of this transformation. The initiative seeks not only to celebrate these culinary traditions but also to reimagine them as tools for fostering community resilience, sustainability, and a vibrant urban diversity in the face of gentrification.
Culinary traditions can serve as catalysts for community engagement
Leveraging EXF, the project embarks on a sensory journey to visualize and materialize potential futures for Cuauhtémoc's gastronomic landscape. Through community-led design workshops, public installations, and pilot projects, it aims to create inclusive foodscapes that embody the neighborhood's rich heritage. This participatory approach encourages residents to envision and enact alternatives to the aesthetic homogenization brought on by gentrification, using food and culinary practices as mediums of expression and resistance.