Abstract
As global and local visions for sustainable living environments are increasingly supported by policies and concrete practices in construction, the building and housing sector is seeking to mitigate its environmental impact as well as assume a greater social responsibility. The overarching policy objectives set to concretize what a sustainable housing development entails, however, tend to rely on equivocal terminology, allowing a varied interpretation by key industry practitioners. Though in line with an ecological modernization paradigm in policy, the promotion of a market-driven environmentalism in housing faces multiple challenges as varying interests and perspectives collide. Supported by empirical findings of a semi-structured interview study conducted with housing developers in a new ‘green’ urban district in Göteborg, Sweden, theoretical frameworks surrounding the paradoxical path towards a sustainable housing development are presented. Inconsistencies between outspoken ambitions; social dimensions; and the framing of efficiency in new housing are discussed. Possibilities for the housing sector are given in the recognition of new forms of development, where a systemic perspective is required in the alignment between how industry, policy and the market perceives housing development and what is actually sustainable.
Highlights
The concept of sustainable development has come to encompass various interpretations, ranging from political discourse to pragmatic approaches regarding how to meet the challenges of global development within what progressively is understood as finite ecological limits
This paper addresses the question whether the sector, with the focus on a developer perspective, can be expected to pursue a holistic agenda and deliver sustainable living environments
The material presented in this paper reflects qualitative findings from an interview study with the seven developers involved in the Kvillebäcken case area in Göteborg, Sweden
Summary
The concept of sustainable development has come to encompass various interpretations, ranging from political discourse to pragmatic approaches regarding how to meet the challenges of global development within what progressively is understood as finite ecological limits On both a local and global level, the establishment of visions and targets for environmental or societal governance effects and relies on all sectors to outline and facilitate measures to reach these goals. As part of the inductive process the material was coded using markers on three levels; content relating to the company/industry in general or to Kvillebäcken in specific; content belonging to identified reoccurring main themes of the interview; and content specific to subthemes that might or might not be reoccurring throughout the interviews. The coding was done partly with the interview guide in mind, complemented in large by observing the patterns of themes that emerged when reviewing the processed material as a whole
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