From Sitopia to Regenerative Urbanism: Designing Cities through Dood. A Conversation with Carolyn Steel

Abstract

This conversation with Carolyn Steel examines how sitopian thinking and food-centred economics can act as structuring frameworks for regenerative urbanism. Taking food as a material, cultural and political lens, the interview addresses key issues such as redefining the “good life” in the 21st century, reconnecting cities with their territories, the question of scale in food systems, the role of small-scale initiatives as transitional infrastructures, and the potential of planning to foster more relational, territorial and ecologically integrated urban models. Rather than proposing technocratic fixes, Steel articulates a regenerative vision grounded in the social value of food, the renewed proximity between nature and society, and the capacity of cities and regions to imagine desirable post-growth futures.