Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Against the backdrop of accelerating globalization and pressing sustainability challenges, this study examines culinary aestheticization as a transformative force reshaping urban lifestyles and cultural identities in contemporary China. Employing transdisciplinary frameworks integrating life aesthetics, sustainability transitions, and cultural studies, we reveal how everyday eating practices function as micro-sites of sociocultural transformation. Through survey data from 533 urban residents, we demonstrate that the shift from functional consumption to aesthetic experience operates as a mechanism of transformative change, particularly among women and educated youth who pioneer new hybrid culinary forms. Rather than homogenization, globalization generates ''glocal" creativity—fusion cuisines that transcend East-West binaries while advancing sustainable consumption. Notably, 75% of respondents integrate ethical concerns with sensory pleasure, indicating that aestheticization cultivates citizen engagement with health and environmental sustainability. These findings illuminate how mundane lifestyle practices, when reframed through aesthetic education and cultural policy, can catalyze broader societal transitions toward sustainable development. By bridging sensory cultivation with ethical reflection, culinary life aesthetics offers a replicable model for transformative change across diverse urban contexts, contributing actionable insights to transdisciplinary research on culture-led sustainability transitions.</p>