Spaces & Flows: Ninth International Conference on Urban and ExtraUrban Studies

Abstract

Convenience stores in gas station and liquor stores are currently the form of food providers with the highest growth rates in the US. Within urban geography, liquor stores are discussed in connection with health diseases, urban decay, and crime. In urban areas where the density of liquor stores is exceptionally high, diseases such as diabetes, alcohol abuse, and obesity are particularly common. In addition, these mostly urban areas provide homes for ethnic groups (especially African American) with very low incomes. In American inner-city-neighborhoods, not only are the socio-economic characteristics mainly negative, but also the access to food is very limited in comparison to predominate white neighborhoods. While the number of supermarkets has decreased for decades in the US, the number of convenience stores within such neighborhoods increased up to 18,000 stores. This study presents insights from an on-going dissertation project that asks for the social meaning of convenience stores in American ghettos in Chicago and Detroit. In the foreground are spatial constructions by customers, neighbors, and employees – people from these neighborhoods, for whom liquor stores have an everyday importance. In the paper, I explore mobility in relation to a convenience store of study in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. The focus is set in the urban environment of the convenience store and inquires about the food environment around the store of study. Furthermore, issues concerning which aspects influence accessibility to the store itself, and, therefore, affect the assessment of convenience stores for the surrounding population are reviewed.