The volume before you results from the federal funded research project “Young Cities – Developing Urban Energy Efficiency”. It has been written by nexus Institut für Kooperationsmanagement und interdisziplinäre Forschung GmbH Otto-Suhr-Allee 59 10585 Berlin | Germany www.nexusinstitut.de German-Iranian Research Project Young Cities Young Cities Research Briefs | 01 Developing Energy-Efficient Urban Fabric in the Tehran-Karaj Region www.youngcities.org Energy Consumption Behavior and Attitudes towards Climate Change in Hashtgerd New Town Results of a Qualitative Survey Sabine Schröder, Jenny Schmithals, Nadia Poor-Rahim, Merten Kannegießer Table of Contents Imprint 1 Introduction . 3 2 Methodology . 4 3 Interview Results ............... 6 4 Conclusions ................23 5 References .................26 Design/Typesetting büro-d | Communication Design Berlin Publisher Universitätsverlag der TU Berlin ISSN 2196-517X (Print) Universitätsbibliothek ISBN 978-3-7983-2536-4 (Print) Fasanenstr. 88 ISBN 978-3-7983-2537-1 (Online) 10623 Berlin | Germany www.univerlag.tu-berlin.de Simultaneously published online on the Digital Repository of the Technische Universität Berlin URL http://opus.kobv.de/tuberlin/volltexte/2013/3962/ URN urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus-39623 [http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:83-opus-39623] All texts are based on scientific research performed within the Young Cities Project. All pictures, tables and graphics are courtesy of the respective article’s authors, unless otherwise mentioned. © 2013 All rights reserved by the Technische Universität Berlin. 1 Introduction Within the last decades, worldwide urbanization rates increase, while green­ house gas emissions have steadily continued to thrive. These developments call for new concepts of climatically sustainable urban development. Since approximately 80 % of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are currently produced in cities, the consequences of climate change can only be consider­ ably reduced by significantly and sustainably changing the way we build, the way we move and the way we live in our cities. Like many other countries in the Middle East North Africa region (MENA), Iran has reacted to the enor­ mous urbanization pressure it faces by constructing numerous New Towns in the vicinity of its major urban centers. The research project “Young Cities — Developing Urban Energy Effi cien­ cy in the Tehran­Karaj Region”, which is funded under the program “Future Megacities” by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), fo­ cuses on the energy efficient development of New Towns, with emphasis on the New Town Hashtgerd. Hashtgerd New Town lies in the growth corridor to the west of the emerging mega city of Tehran. Measured by its geographical size, it is the largest of the new urban settlements (see www.youngcities.org). This study was prepared in the framework of the sub­project “Awareness Raising”, led by the nexus Institute for Cooperation Management and Interdisciplinary Research within the research project “Young Cities”. The aims of the sub­project “Awareness Raising” are to survey the attitudes of citizens in regard to environmental issues, climate change and energy con­ sumption patterns, in order to develop awareness­raising measures for envi­ ronmental and climate change issues and to sensitize the population of the New Town Hashtgerd to climate change, sustainable energy consumption and energy­efficient building. Furthermore, the aim is to obtain insight into the needs and suggestions of Hashtgerd residents and incorporate them into the work of the project. Therefore, an exploratory qualitative survey of citizens of the New Town Hashtgerd on energy consumption in the household and transport sector, and on information about and attitudes towards climate change was carried out. The survey was also used to find out more about the structural condition of the apartments and buildings and about needs and suggestions of the resi­ dents regarding traffic and transport and other infrastructure in Hashtgerd. 3 2 Methodology In March 2009, a total of 60 residents of Hashtgerd New Town were sur­ veyed by two Iranian interviewers, accompanied by the religious police. The interviews were semi­structured with mostly open questions and lasted 20­ 30 minutes on average. The interviews were carried out at the doorstep, in parks or on the road. Regarding the selection of respondents, it was ensured that an even distribution of gender and age of respondents was maintained. Of the 60 respondents, 29 were men and 31 women. The age of the respon­ dents was between 15 and 71 years. As the interviews were conducted during the day, it is likely that housewives, pensioners, unemployed and students are slightly over­represented. The following personal data of the interview­ ees were recorded: age, education level, occupation, gender and place of res­ idence, i. e. construction phase. As the living and construction quality varies for different construction phases, residents from all three construction phases were surveyed. The proportion of the interviewed residents of phase III is rather small due to the fact that this phase was built last and does not have as many inhabitants as phases I and II. Judging from the above information, the interviewees represent a cross­section of the middle class and lower middle class living in New Hashtgerd. 4 Energy Consumption Behavior and Attitudes towards Climate Change in Hashtgerd New Town Tab. 1: Sex Men 29 Women 31 Tab. 2: Occupation Total Women Men Working (Employees, Self- 23 8 15 employed, Public Service) Unemployed 1 1 - Housewives/-men 16 16 - Retired Persons 6 - 6 In Training/Students 12 4 8 Not Specified 2 2 - Tab. 3: Education Total Women Men High School 18 8 10 Bachelor 9 5 4 Master 1 - 1 Other degrees 32 18 14 Tab. 4: Distribution of Total Women Men respondents, construc- Construction Phase I 27 8 10 tion phases I–III Construction Phase II 9 5 4 Construction Phase III 1 - 1 5 3 Interview Results 3.1 Attitudes towards Climate Change During the survey, the interviewees were asked whether they felt threat­ ened by the effects of climate change. More than half of respondents (32) an­ swered “yes”. Those that responded more specific to this question, partic­ ularly stated the more dangerous solar radiation caused by a thinner ozone layer and water shortages and droughts as a threat. However, the ozone hole is not directly connected to climate change and is caused by different gases (FCKW) than climate change (CO2). The fact that the ozone layer is becoming thinner has been covered by the media for a much longer time than climate change. Here, two differing topics become mixed up in public perception. Yes % No % Yes % No % I don’t know % I don’t know % No Answer % Not Specified % Fig. 1: Do you feel threatened Fig. 2: Do you think that humans by the possible consequences are at least partly responsible of climate change ? for climate change ? Furthermore, the residents were asked whether they believed that humans were at least partially responsible for climate change. 73 % of respondents were of the opinion that this was the case, 10 % felt that this was not true. Most of the respondents consider counteraction to climate change as being mainly, or at least partially, the responsibility of the state. Although many people stated that cooperation between citizens and the state is neces­ 6 Energy Consumption Behavior and Attitudes towards Climate Change in Hashtgerd New Town Photo 1: Billboard requesting to keep the city clean (left) sary, too, the state has the duty to create the necessary conditions (e. g. in­ form the citizens, provide infrastructure, e. g. adequate public transport infrastructure, and adopt and enforce binding laws). For example, several respondents demanded better information for the public about ways to coun­ teract climate change, more cooperation with the people and integration into decisions in this regard. The need for binding legislation was emphasized by several respondents. “In the industrialized countries the state was always the pioneer. You cannot protect the environment only on your own initiative. The state has to provide the framework for that. It doesn’t help, for example, if every household separates its garbage, but it isn’t collected separately.” 71 years, male One student pointed out the familiar problem that climate change is too ab­ stract and not sufficiently visible to the people in order to motivate individ­ uals to commit themselves to reduce energy consumption (see Weber 2006, WWF India 2006): “I think climate change is somehow not sufficiently specific. Iranians do not step on a piece of bread lying on the ground, as they believe it is a gift of God. They treat things that are visible with caution. But climate change is not sufficiently visible and specific.” 15 years, female Therefore, it is important to communicate to the public how climate change and its consequences affect their daily lives and what they can do to, for ex­ ample, reduce energy consumption in their daily routines. This would make the issue more tangible and understandable. An interesting result of this question is that none of the respondents be­ lieved that nothing should be done about climate change. All respondents 7 thought that the government, citizens or both — and thus generally the peo­ ple — had the responsibility to mitigate climate change. 3.2 Sources of Information During the interview, the interviewees were asked about the channels through which they have received information on climate change and energy saving. It was shown that television is the main information channel for such information. Three quarters of the respondents stated television as one source of information. Half of the respondents, 29 persons, named television as the only source of information. The information sources stated second and third most were newspapers and radio. Only three people mentioned the Internet as a source of information, and this always in addition to other sources. Television Newspaper Radio School Internet Fig.