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Cited by 32Housing Market and EconomicsSustainable Building Design and AssessmentCollaborative and Sustainable Housing Initiatives

Obstacles and opportunities for reducing dwelling size to shrink the environmental footprint of housing: tenants’ residential preferences and housing choice

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Karlen, Claudine, Pagani, Anna, Binder, Claudia R.·2022·Journal of Housing and the Built Environment
DOI 10.1007/s10901-021-09884-3PMC PMC9418078
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Abstract

The environmental footprint of housing is greatly influenced by the size of a dwelling. Housing size is the result of households’ dwelling selections; accordingly, it is critical to consider residential preferences and choices to inform efforts towards housing sustainability. This study aimed to understand tenants’ preferences for and choices of housing size as one amongst several dwelling characteristics and identify obstacles and opportunities for reducing size in the light of promoting sustainable housing. We employed logistic regression models to analyse a survey with 878 Swiss tenants, and our results identify preference for large dwellings as a major obstacle for reducing dwelling size among affluent tenants. Conversely, tenants with lower income might be forced to move to a smaller dwelling due to financial constraints or attribute higher importance to the financial benefit of lower rents. However, financial disincentives along with substantial non-monetary costs of moving, such as the disruption of local bonds and the difficulty of finding a satisfactory dwelling, can outweigh the benefits of moving to a smaller dwelling. To overcome such obstacles, we suggest offering incentives and other facilitating measures for downsizing moves as well as ensuring an adequate supply of smaller dwellings capable of providing high living quality. We highlight the potential of studying housing functions to conceptualize dwellings fulfilling these requirements.

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  • Extending floor area maximums to market rate units could help to moderate the emissions of high-consumption households.

    “Extending this to market rate units could help to moderate the emissions of high-consumption households (Cohen 2021;Karlen et al. 2022).”

    From Making embodied carbon mainstream: a framework for cities to leverage waste, equity, and preservation policy to reduce embodied emissions in buildings (2023) · cites this paper as Karlen et al. 2022

    The Introduction links greater per-person floor space to a larger housing footprint, and the Conclusion advocates facilitating downsizing in the private rental market, including for affluent households. The Discussion also suggests extending minimum-occupancy rules beyond cooperatives. It does not specifically propose floor-area maximums for market-rate units or assess their effect on high-consumption households’ emissions. (LLM, conf=0.84)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Karlen, C., Pagani, A., & Binder, C. R.
Affiliations
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
Corresponding author
Pagani, Anna
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Housing and the Built Environment
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2021-09-13
Volume
37
Issue
3
Pages
1367-1408
ISSN
  • 1566-4910 (ISSN-L)
  • 1573-7772
DOI
10.1007/s10901-021-09884-3
PMC
PMC9418078
OpenAlex
W3199735118
Cited by
32
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 3
FWCI
3.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Update notices
correction (2021-10-20)
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Housing and the Built Environment (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
  • Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (407340_172435)
  • EPFL Lausanne
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Housing Market and Economics
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Sustainable Building Design and Assessment
  • Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Collaborative and Sustainable Housing Initiatives
Keywords
house size, sustainable housing, housing choice, housing affordability, rent, migration costs, housing supply, housing function

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