Living smaller: acceptance, effects and structural factors in the EU
(2024) In Buildings and Cities 5(1). p.215-230- Abstract
- This article examines limits to per capita living space (i.e. living smaller and/or sharing living space) as a measure for achieving sufficiency in housing. It studies the acceptance, motivation and side-effects of voluntarily reducing living space in five European Union countries: Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Spain and Sweden. Insights are derived from an extensive collection of qualitative empirical material collected from citizen and stakeholder ‘thinking labs’ across the five case countries. Overall, the data reveal an initial reluctance among citizens to reduce living space voluntarily. They also point to some major structural barriers: the housing market and its regulatory framework, social inequality, or dominant societal norms... (More)
- This article examines limits to per capita living space (i.e. living smaller and/or sharing living space) as a measure for achieving sufficiency in housing. It studies the acceptance, motivation and side-effects of voluntarily reducing living space in five European Union countries: Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Spain and Sweden. Insights are derived from an extensive collection of qualitative empirical material collected from citizen and stakeholder ‘thinking labs’ across the five case countries. Overall, the data reveal an initial reluctance among citizens to reduce living space voluntarily. They also point to some major structural barriers: the housing market and its regulatory framework, social inequality, or dominant societal norms regarding ‘the ideal home’. Enhanced community amenities can compensate for reduced private living space, though contingent upon a clear allocation of rights and responsibilities. Participants also reported positive effects to living smaller, including increased time for leisure activities and proximity to services. This was often coupled with urbanization, which may also be part of living smaller in the future. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/57fd9f80-af82-48bf-90ea-138b5faa25c6
- author
- Lehner, Matthias
LU
; Richter, Jessika Luth LU ; Kreinin, Halliki ; Mamut, Pia ; Vadovics, Edina ; Henman, Josefine LU ; Mont, Oksana LU and Fuchs, Doris
- organization
- publishing date
- 2024-06-27
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- Buildings and Cities
- volume
- 5
- issue
- 1
- pages
- 215 - 230
- publisher
- Web Portal Ubiquity Press
- ISSN
- 2632-6655
- DOI
- 10.5334/bc.438
- project
- EU 1.5° Lifestyles
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 57fd9f80-af82-48bf-90ea-138b5faa25c6
- date added to LUP
- 2024-06-27 19:07:36
- date last changed
- 2024-06-28 09:17:51
@article{57fd9f80-af82-48bf-90ea-138b5faa25c6, abstract = {{This article examines limits to per capita living space (i.e. living smaller and/or sharing living space) as a measure for achieving sufficiency in housing. It studies the acceptance, motivation and side-effects of voluntarily reducing living space in five European Union countries: Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Spain and Sweden. Insights are derived from an extensive collection of qualitative empirical material collected from citizen and stakeholder ‘thinking labs’ across the five case countries. Overall, the data reveal an initial reluctance among citizens to reduce living space voluntarily. They also point to some major structural barriers: the housing market and its regulatory framework, social inequality, or dominant societal norms regarding ‘the ideal home’. Enhanced community amenities can compensate for reduced private living space, though contingent upon a clear allocation of rights and responsibilities. Participants also reported positive effects to living smaller, including increased time for leisure activities and proximity to services. This was often coupled with urbanization, which may also be part of living smaller in the future.}}, author = {{Lehner, Matthias and Richter, Jessika Luth and Kreinin, Halliki and Mamut, Pia and Vadovics, Edina and Henman, Josefine and Mont, Oksana and Fuchs, Doris}}, issn = {{2632-6655}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{06}}, number = {{1}}, pages = {{215--230}}, publisher = {{Web Portal Ubiquity Press}}, series = {{Buildings and Cities}}, title = {{Living smaller: acceptance, effects and structural factors in the EU}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5334/bc.438}}, doi = {{10.5334/bc.438}}, volume = {{5}}, year = {{2024}}, }