Make Room: Social Practice Design as a Green Transition Tool for Sufficient Living

While cities must prepare to accomodate an increasing share of population growth in the coming decades, the increasing consumption of floor area is a prevelent and challenging trend in Western countries that needs to be reversed in order to meet net zero carbon goals. A sustainability paradox emerges as housing deman within urban centers contrasts with the reality that building sector is the fourth largest global carbon-emitting sector and is responsible for one of the highest levels of material resource consumption on the planet (Lamb et al. 2021)

Recent research supports the proposition that radical reductions in resource consumption are possible with the consideration of sufficiency measures & practices applicable to the building stock (Millward-Hopkins et al. 2020) (Saheb 2021). However, this research has not yet discussed how to advance or operationalise ideas and concepts like sufficiency or how inntovative solutions can lead to achieving a reduction of floor area in the exisiting building stock.

This research begins to address this gap by investigating whether a social practice methodology applied as an innovation tool can help decouple the overconsumption of floor area and linked perception to well-being. This model re-assessnes and elevates the existing housing.