Mapping Nighttime Food Deserts in London

Approximately 1.32 million Londoners work in the evening and nighttime economy, yet their workplace distribution, commuting patterns, and access to amenities remain understudied. This study addresses this gap by analysing nighttime workers’ access to healthy and affordable food, a concern for 52% of surveyed workers. Using a dynamic accessibility model, it integrates worker footfall counts from mobile phone location data, variability in transportation, and opening hours of shops to capture spatial and temporal variations in food accessibility between 6 pm and 6 am. Additionally, we introduce a framework to aid policymakers identify areas with inadequate food accessibility for nighttime workers.