Housing, public policy and the environment in a historical perspective: lessons from Swedish post-war society
by Kristina Söderholm
International Journal of Sustainable Society (IJSSOC), Vol. 5, No. 1, 2013

Abstract: From a European perspective, housing-related expenses of Swedish households have increased considerably in real terms since the 1950s. Given that households through these consumption patterns contribute to a major share of the country's emissions of harmful substances and waste, e.g. through energy use, a qualitative analysis of critical explanations over time to the increase in housing-related expenses is motivated. This paper identifies and explores the emergence of a number of socio-technical structures and systems with important explanatory value in this context. It is concluded that the housing-related consumption of the average post-war Swedish household is strongly embedded in physical structures, which, to a considerable extent, can be explained by public intervention and policy traditions in the past. This opens up vital avenues for contemporary policy, aiming for behavioural change; however, a fundamental prerequisite for the government wishing to motivate more sustainable consumption must be to be conscious about its own historically determined role in this context.

Online publication date: Mon, 22-Sep-2014

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