Investigating food-related aspects of apartment building design guidelines: an international comparison

With the growing population in cities globally, progressively more people are compelled to live in apartments. Apartments often have small kitchens and food-related spaces, potentially making them less supportive environments for at-home food practices. Despite this, no existing evidence has documented how apartment-specific housing policies address kitchen design, although this poses potentially detrimental implications for population health. Using a comparative policy analysis, this study identified 17 apartment design guidelines from 10 territorial jurisdictions to address this gap. We compared them based on comprehensiveness, measurability, and whether they were evidence-based. Analysis was conducted using the Framework Method, detailing eight kitchen and housing design themes: ‘Ventilation’, ‘Suitability of construction materials’, ‘Storage for food and kitchen appliances’, ‘Lighting’, ‘Kitchen size and layout’, ‘Fixed kitchen equipment’, ‘Communal food spaces’, and ‘Accessibility and inclusivity’. Our findings showed that existing apartment design guidelines in our sample vary greatly in breadth and the level of detail in which they address the design aspects of kitchens and food-related spaces, and often lack a sound basis derived from research. Considering these, we illustrated clear aspects for improvement among existing apartment guidelines. Future work is needed to systematically monitor future apartment design guidelines from more diverse and novel settings. Growing urban populations worldwide are progressively living in apartments with restrictive kitchens, posing detrimental impacts on their food practices Existing apartment design guidelines lack detail and clear direction in achieving kitchen functionality In various international contexts, opportunities exist to leverage guidelines to support at-home food practices Policy and practice recommendations Adopting a key focus on kitchen design in urban housing policies may prove an effective strategy to foster healthier home food environments To achieve potential health benefits from well-designed and adaptable apartment kitchens, guidelines must take into account multiple food practices whilst providing maximum detail Existing policies could be greatly improved by being systematically informed and updated by current evidence reflective of residents’ needs