Reclaiming the Royal Docks through the lens of food heritage

Food is an international language, but in the Royal Docks, it is also the literal foundation of its urban history. As a local resident and researcher, I am exploring how the area’s legacy as the UK’s largest historic food trading hub can be transformed into a tool for community-led redevelopment. Through my "Research in Place" residency at We Made That, I am developing a co-created walking tour that uses food, from the silhouette of Millennium Mills to the diverse flavours of modern immigrant communities, as a medium to empower residents and embed their voices into the narratives of urban change.

Even though I had lived in the Royal Docks for more than ten years, my journey into its complexities truly began in 2022, when I joined the Golden Key Academy. What started as a dive into the unknown evolved into a deep fascination with urban studies and the hidden histories of my own neighbourhood.

During the pandemic, I received Develop Your Creative Practice funding support from Arts Council England. This allowed me to develop my knowledge of my local neighbourhood, build networks with local stakeholders, produce outdoor and site-specific artistic work, and co-establish a new Community Interest Company called Performance Infinity. Curatorially, I shifted my approach to using food as a central theme, reflecting the Royal Docks’ legacy as the UK's historically largest and busiest food trading hub. Beyond its industrial history, I view food as a vital, daily, and shared element that naturally empowers community expression. This philosophy underpinned my work with FeastFest, a community-led cultural festival that transformed the sensory experience of food into a platform for local residents to reclaim their neighbourhood’s narrative.

Working on this festival provided deep community insights, but unstable funding and team burnout highlighted the need for more sustainable support systems. Engaging with local development strategies revealed a gap: while ambitious, these plans often leave me as a resident feeling excluded and overlook the unique history and heritage of the area.

These experiences led to my interest in academic research on this dynamic area and marked the beginning of my PhD journey through the lens of urban redevelopment. I was fortunate to be selected for a Research in Place residency, which allowed me to explore my research questions through real practice, learning alongside We Made That’s project and team members.

On the second day of the residency, I demonstrated my walking tour through a workshop, using materials previously shared at the RETASTE conference. I presented my research in the Food as Arts Materials session: Food, Community, and Redevelopment in London’s Royal Docks, providing background and context for the walking tour. Through teamwork, we examined how individuals can contribute to exploring historical sites and locations around the Royal Docks.

As part of my residency, I also presented and ran a small team workshop of my work in progress at We Made That’s pin up session earlier this February to further share the research context of the walking tour, focusing on co-creation and capacity building. Alongside, I’ve been writing an essay titled Right to Food, inspired by Right to Place initiative developed by We Made That. My focus is on food as an intangible heritage; food-related historical buildings (such as warehouses and factories); and food as an everyday element that naturally empowers people to speak and express themselves. At the same time, food acts as a living medium to showcase the cultural diversity of the Royal Docks, shaped by generations of immigrant workers.

So what next?

I aim to develop a toolkit for local residents to undertake a self-guided tour, and to train those who are interested in continuing to develop and deliver the walking tour. The tour is envisioned as dynamic, addressing changes in local food businesses and future developments, including the relocation of two iconic food markets to the area.

At the end of the residency, I will bring the We Made That team to the Royal Docks to take part in the walking tour, immersing ourselves in the place, meeting local residents, and experiencing the area through shared food and real encounters.

Image credit : FeastFest