Revealing the geography of food (in)accessibility for nighttime workers in the Greater London Area

Bibliographic Data

ID10860440
AuthorsMichał Iliev (0009-0000-7208-2488, University College London, corresponding author), Jenny Cheshire (0000-0002-4217-1751, University College London), James Cheshire (0000-0003-4552-5989, University College London), Stephen Law (0000-0003-3184-572X, University College London), Simon Law (University College London)
Year2026
Volume63
Issue12
Pages2685-2702
Publication date2026-03-10
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueUrban Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0042-0980 • E-ISSN: 1360-063X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00420980261422967
OpenAlexW7135022069
LanguageEN
References cited41

The lived experiences of those who work at night have been subject to increased attention from both scholars and policy makers; however, there remains limited geospatial and quantitative evidence on the challenges they face and how these unfold across space and time. This gap is most evident in the continued dependence on “daytime” data and assumptions, that presume the traditional “9–5” working day, at the expense of the specific needs of night workers. In this context, lack of access to food has emerged as a critical yet underexplored issue. While recent accessibility models increasingly account for the temporal dynamics of their supply-side components (e.g., service operating hours), they either overlook population dynamics or treat nighttime populations as homogenous, thus masking the distinct service needs of active night workers. This study addresses these limitations by developing the first dynamic food accessibility model that explicitly accounts for the shifting spatial distribution of night workers in Greater London. Leveraging novel mobile phone location data, we provide deeper insights into the spatial and temporal realities of working at night in London. Beyond demonstrating that access to food retail outlets for night workers is markedly poorer than for daytime workers, our proposed (in)sufficient accessibility framework identifies where and when this issue is most acute. Through its empirical insights and methodological innovations, this article therefore contributes to ongoing debates on spatial justice and nighttime urban strategies

Distribution (mathematics · Food security · Geospatial analysis · Masking (illustration · Mobile phone · Phone · Population · Work (physics · Night-time city culture · Urban Transport and Accessibility · Work-Family Balance Challenges

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access