Degrowth for urban planning: Exploring consumption corridors in architectural practice
2024 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 20 credits / 30 HE credits
Student thesisAlternative title
Nerväxt inom stadsplanering : En undersökning av konsumtionskorridorer i arkitekturpraktik (Swedish)
Abstract [en]
In contemporary urban planning, despite the persistent pursuit of sustainability, the goal often remains unattained, neither environmentally nor socially. It is becoming increasingly evident that reducing production and consumption in affluent countries is necessary to achieve sustainability goals. Degrowth, an agenda for planned socioeconomic redistribution targeting excess economic activity, offers a framework for a necessary paradigm shift in urban planning to provide such a sustainable transition. However, degrowth has not been sufficiently spatialised for urban planning, thus exploration of ways to operationalise it becomes necessary and urgent. This study explores a model of sustainable consumption developed by Di Giulio and Fuchs called “consumption corridors” as a framework for operationalising degrowth in urban planning. In pursuit of this aim, the thesis adopts a workshop methodology to explore the concept within architectural practice, both in theory and practice. The development of the workshop and the process of sense-making of consumption corridors for architecture were parallel tasks in this research. On the basis of workshops conducted with professional architects in Warsaw and Oslo, the study finds that consumption corridors can be a framework providing concrete measures for urban planning aiming at degrowth transition. Moreover, the workshop method proved to be beneficial in facilitating architects’ understanding of the concept of consumption corridors. Potentially, the methodology developed in this study could be applied to other planning stakeholders, broadening the understanding of spatialised measures required for a degrowth transition, and in consequence providing a good life for all within the consumption limits.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2024.
Series
TRITA-ABE-MBT ; 24676
Keywords [en]
consumption corridors, sustainable consumption, degrowth, limits, architecture, urban design, futures thinking, workshops
Keywords [sv]
konsumtionskorridorer, hållbar konsumtion, nerväxt, arkitektur, stadsdesign, framtidsstudier, workshops
National Category
Other Social Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-352317OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-352317DiVA, id: diva2:1892799
Presentation
2024-06-03, 00:00 (English)
Supervisors
Examiners
2024-08-272024-08-272024-08-29Bibliographically approved