Transitioning to a more sustainable residential built environment in Sydney?

Abstract

This article applies socio‐technical transitions theory (STTT), with the aim of identifying how the barriers and opportunities that exist to implementing sustainable building are socio‐spatially embedded at a residential scale in Sydney, NSW. This is done through a series of semi‐structured interviews conducted with a range of professionals in relevant industries. The research concludes that barriers and opportunities to sustainable residential buildings in Sydney exist within a landscape context of housing provision in developed countries. However, the conceptual application of these barriers to Sydney, through the multi‐level perspective of STTT with a geographical conceptualisation of the socio‐spatial embeddedness of transitions, highlights the necessity of working within the Sydney and NSW context to facilitate genuine and meaningful transitions. Furthermore, a key finding of this article was the necessity of including socio‐economic factors in a STTT analysis in order to transition to a residential built environment which is both sustainable and affordable.