Are Residents Living in Eco-Districts Environmentally Conscious?
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Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2017/39 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Are residents living in eco-districts environmentally conscious? A case study of environmental attitudes of residents living in the European Green Capital of Stockholm, Sweden Choi Kan Suen DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES I N S T I T U T I O N E N F Ö R G E O V E T E N S K A P E R Master thesis in Sustainable Development 2017/39 Examensarbete i Hållbar utveckling Are residents living in eco-districts environmentally conscious? A case study of environmental attitudes of residents living in the European Green Capital of Stockholm, Sweden Choi Kan Suen Supervisor: Tom R. Burns Evaluator: Per Berg Copyright © Choi Kan Suen and the Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University Published at Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University (www.geo.uu.se), Uppsala, 2017 “Green technology is the backbone of eco-city while eco-mindset of its residents is its soul” (Photo: with permission of Stockholm växer) (Photo) Hammarby Sjöstad: a world-class eco-district in the European Green Capital of Stockholm, Sweden Contents Scientific abstract ........................................................................................................................................ i Popular scientific summary (English) ...................................................................................................... ii Popular scientific summary (Swedish / svenska) ................................................................................... iii Popular scientific summary (Chinese / 中文) ........................................................................................... iv 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Objectives ........................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2. Structure of the thesis ......................................................................................................................... 3 2. Literature review ................................................................................................................................. 4 3. Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1. Existing data ....................................................................................................................................... 6 3.2. Street survey ....................................................................................................................................... 6 3.3. Face-to-face expert interviews ........................................................................................................... 9 3.4. Documents .......................................................................................................................................... 9 3.4.1. Emails from the informants ................................................................................................... 9 3.4.2. Literature ............................................................................................................................. 10 4. Part 1 – Environmental attitudes of Stockholm residents ............................................................. 11 4.1. Background ...................................................................................................................................... 11 4.2. Research results ................................................................................................................................ 13 4.2.1. Education ............................................................................................................................. 13 4.2.2. Income ................................................................................................................................. 14 4.2.3. Voting in election of the City Council in Stockholm 2014 ................................................. 14 4.2.4. Street survey in Bromma, Östermalm and Hammarby Sjöstad .......................................... 16 4.3. Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 20 5. Part 2 – Development of Hammarby Sjöstad and environmental attitudes of its residents ...... 22 5.1. Development of Hammarby Sjöstad ................................................................................................ 22 5.2. Research results ................................................................................................................................ 24 5.2.1. Description of key properties of Hammarby Sjöstad .......................................................... 24 5.2.1.1. GlashusEtt ................................................................................................................. 24 5.2.1.2. Automated vacuum waste collection systems ........................................................... 26 5.2.1.3. Light rail .................................................................................................................... 27 5.2.1.4. Electric cars ............................................................................................................... 28 5.2.2. Further Development of Hammarby Sjöstad: Resident-driven environmental initiative (HS2020 / ElectriCITY / Hammarby Sjöstad 2.0) .............................................................. 29 5.2.3. Face-to-face interview with Allan Larsson ......................................................................... 32 5.2.4. Emails from the informants ................................................................................................. 33 5.2.5. Particular street survey (Hammarby Sjöstad residents) ...................................................... 35 5.3. Discussion ........................................................................................................................................ 39 6. Recommendations to policy makers ................................................................................................ 42 7. Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 44 8. Suggestions for further research ...................................................................................................... 45 9. Acknowledgement .............................................................................................................................. 46 10. References .......................................................................................................................................... 51 11. Appendices ......................................................................................................................................... 58 11.1. Street survey results in Bromma, Östermalm and Hammarby Sjöstad ......................................... 58 11.2. Street survey questions: Hammarby Sjöstad, Östermalm, Bromma ............................................. 66 11.3. Individual interview questions to Allan Larsson (Chairman of ElectriCITY / Former Ministry for Finance of Sweden) .......................................................................................................................... 68 11.4. Individual interview questions to board members of urban planning committees in Södermalm, Östermalm, Bromma, the City of Stockholm ................................................................................... 68 11.5. Individual interview questions to board members of environmental non-governmental organizations in Hammarby Sjöstad, Östermalm, Bromma ............................................................. 69 11.6. Individual interview questions to Stockholm newspapers’ journalists in sustainability & Swedish Radio environmental program leaders ............................................................................................. 69 11.7. Individual interview questions to Marcus Carson (Senior Research Fellow of Stockholm Environment Institute) ...................................................................................................................... 69 About author (profile & contact) .......................................................................................................... 71 Are residents living in eco-districts environmentally conscious? A case study of environmental attitudes of residents living in the European Green Capital of Stockholm, Sweden CHOI KAN SUEN Suen, C.K., 2017: Are residents living in eco-districts environmentally conscious? A case study of environmental attitudes of residents living in the European Green Capital of Stockholm, Sweden. Master thesis in Sustainable Development at Uppsala University, No. 2017/39, 71 pp, 30 ECTS/hp Abstract: With rapid urbanization, climate change and population growth in the 21st century, the development of eco- cities, especially in those fast-growing populated countries such as China and India, is important to minimize human impact on the planet. Nevertheless, despite that there is a very well-designed eco-city, if residents living in an eco-city are not environmentally conscious, the eco-city is sustainable only in its tangible part – technologies and