Table Of ContentFILTERED
Café culture is flourishing in cities across the world. From London to Seoul,
Melbourne to Shanghai and many cities in between, people are flocking to café s.
A recent phenomenon, café culture has made its reappearance only since the end
of the 20th century. What is the appeal of the café for urban dwellers? And why
now? ‘Having a coffee’ might be a daily ritual, yet it is more than coffee that
draws us to the café . Café s are vital social spaces, technically connected work-
spaces and businesses that are forging design and food trends.
The café is the lens through which this book explores major changes occur-
ring in everyday life in cities across the world. Urban regeneration has fuelled the
growth of urban amenity and social consumer spaces. The impact of technology,
social and workplace transformation, and the ascendency of the design and food
industries all find expression in the spaces of the cafe. The specialty coffee move-
ment is a thriving, global presence, uniting café staff and customers across geo-
graphical borders, with a shared commitment to the connoisseurship of coffee.
In the book’s global sweep, it examines the development of café culture in
China, Japan and Australia as significant and interesting departures from tradi-
tional European café culture. Australia is a world leader and successful exporter
of its unique style of coffee and food. Interviews with café patrons and staff
illuminate why the café has become a meaningful place for many people in the
21st-century city.
Emma Felton is Senior Lecturer in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland
University of Technology. She has written widely about urban experience from inter-
disciplinary perspectives, including gender and design approaches. She is co-author
and editor of the book Design and Ethics: Reflections on Practice (Routledge, 2012).
‘In Filtered, Emma Felton shows us how the café – and café culture – is entwined
with urban development across place and time. Despite variations across conti-
nents and populations, cafés have made an indelible mark on our cities. Felton
explains how the café is a window into our changing urban culture, work hab-
its and social spaces. She details their uneasy relationship with broader issues
including neighbourhood change and displacement, and their role in networks
of global trade. This book is a must read for anyone with an interest in urban
cultural studies.’
– Carl Grodach, Professor and Director, Urban Planning and Design,
Monash Art Design & Architecture, Monash University
‘The author shows the historical and global continuities of the café as a social
site. Her study employs observation, interviews and analysis of cultural texts.
The interpretations are illuminating and the narrative entertaining. Felton shows
how the café, and the act of having a cup of coffee, are at the centre of dilemmas
related to how we now live, work and consume. Drawing on historical, cultural
and sociological approaches, the study moves between the local and global scales,
aesthetic and political dimensions. Along the way, Filtered helps us understand the
ubiquity of the café and the centrality of coffee in our cities and cultures.’
– Ian Woodward, PhD, Professor, Consumption,
Culture and Commerce, Department of Marketing and Management,
University of Southern Denmark
‘An intriguing brew of the social life of café culture and how it relates to dynamic
urban transformation. By presenting historical and contemporary expositions
that intricately plait café culture with economics, aesthetics, culture and technol-
ogy, Felton’s book will appeal to both specialist and general readers.’
– Kelvin E.Y. Low, PhD, Associate Professor and Deputy Head,
Department of Sociology,
National University of Singapore
FILTERED
Coffee, the Café and
the 21st-Century City
Emma Felton
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 Emma Felton
The right of Emma Felton to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Felton, Emma, author.
Title: Filtered: coffee, the café and the 21st century city / Emma Felton.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2019. |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018037492| ISBN 9780415787574 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781138367920 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781315225869 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Coffee–Social aspects. | Coffee shops–Social aspects. |
Coffee industry. | City life.
Classification: LCC GT2918 .F45 2019 | DDC 647.95–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018037492
ISBN: 978-0-415-78757-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-36792-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-22586-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
To Kevin
CONTENTS
List of figures ix
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction 1
1 The café and the city 5
2 The café : Sociality and community from both sides
of the counter 26
3 Coffee business 47
4 The exported café : Australia 67
5 Café s in Asia: Japan 90
6 Café culture in Mainland China and Hong Kong 105
7 Ambience, atmosphere and design 124
8 Wired and working: Technology, the café and work 145
Afterword: A heady brew 163
References 167
Index 175
FIGURES
1.1 Artisanal approaches to coffee 10
1.2 Melbourne, Australia Laneway cafés 12
1.3 Ink coffee! Sign and graffiti response 14
1.4 Tokyo Urban Café 17
2.1 Contemporary café culture Istanbul 28
2.2 Interior of Constantinople Coffee House, 16th century 29
2.3 Sociality: alone among the group 34
2.4 Informal seating outside Assembly Café Melbourne, invites locals 43
3.1 How coffee is made, Excelsior Café Tokyo 51
3.2 Coffee berries 53
3.3 Colombian coffee farmer preparing beans 54
4.1 19th-century coffee palace, Melbourne, Australia 72
4.2 Astoria Café, Newcastle, Australia, circa 1940 79
4.3 Busy café in Carlton, Melbourne, Australia 81
4.4 Café extension in improvised space, inner city Brisbane, Australia 82
4.5 Café in inner city Brisbane, Australia, adapted from vernacular
housing 82
4.6 Food board in Australian café 85
4.7 Fresh food typical of Australian cafés 86
5.1 Coffee brewing in Tokyo, Japan café 92
5.2 The first canned coffee drink developed by Ueshima Coffee
Company 97
5.3 Coffee at Café de L’Ambre served without milk 99
5.4 Café de L’Ambre Tokyo 99
5.5 Novelty coffee jigsaw puzzle 101
6.1 Line Friends Cafe Shanghai 112
6.2 Items sold in Chinese café 116
6.3 Fumi Café wall decorated with percolators, Shanghai 117
