Integrating sufficiency-oriented lifestyles and socio-political acceptance of land-use changes in urban sustainability transformations

Reaching European climate targets calls for lifestyle changes aligned with the idea of sufficiency – living well with less. Despite increased interest in sufficiency, little research has examined how residents’ acceptance of more sustainable land-uses varies across lifestyles with different levels of sufficiency orientation. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between urban lifestyles and socio-political acceptance of land-use changes, including willingness to give up carbon-intensive mobility and housing practices across cities and neighbourhoods in southern Finland. We administered an online survey to a random sample of residents in Helsinki, Lahti and the neighbourhood of Länsiväylä and collected a total of 896 survey responses. Cluster analysis was used to distinguish a set of urban lifestyles that vary in their sufficiency orientation, which were subsequently related to socio-political acceptance of land-use changes. We found that sufficiency-oriented residents often prefer walking and public transport, and they are more likely to accept various land-use changes in support of sustainability outcomes in urban areas. We also found locational differences in the relationships between socio-political acceptance of land use change and lifestyle clusters. Together our findings can help in addressing the pressing environmental challenges in cities in a more targeted way.