This paper supports an understanding of individual behaviour as an inherent part of a holistic approach to implementing urban sustainability. Based on this premise, the types of behaviour that are associated with the implementation of urban sustainability are highlighted. Challenging the tacit assumption that behaviour can be changed by merely changing policy and the built environment, an expanded view of behaviour change is proposed. This includes a literature study of other relevant disciplines investigating key factors that impact on individual decisionmaking, which are categorised as socio-cultural, demographic and psychological. Also, the importance of habitual behaviour as mitigating factor for behaviour change is discussed.In conclusion, a schematic model of the individual's role in decision-making and thus on urban sustainability realisation is proposed. The purpose of this is to clarify the duality between provision and use of urban sustainability strategies. As such, this paper constitutes preliminary work to the development of a holistic and integrated theory and research framework for the implementation of urban sustainability taking into account infrastructure, policy, behaviour and other aspects.
Implementing urban sustainability strategies has proven to be difficult. This paper aims at developing a holistic understanding of the urban sustainability concept with the help of a conceptual model, as well as offering a framework for understanding and researching the implementation of urban sustainability strategies. Here, individual behaviour change is understood as one of the main objectives of such strategies. Through a conceptual model, four types of opposing and sometimes contradictory relationships are identified: (1) between global aims and local implementation, (2) between institutional pressure and the behaviour of individuals, (3) between strategic measures and personal consequences and (4) between attitudes and behaviour. These relationships are discussed in order to illustrate stalling factors in urban sustainability implementation.Looking at behaviour change as a major goal of urban sustainability implementation, several social and individual behavioural theories are reviewed in order to construct a holistic and a compound model of the dynamics of behavioural change. By revealing a dual implementation process, consisting of provision on one side and choice on the other, we demarcate several important aspects for realising and researching urban sustainability strategies and their effectiveness. A more holistic way of assessing and monitoring the implementation of urban sustainability strategies is also proposed. The paper argues that rather than looking at the changes in the urban population's behaviour as a result, we must view them as an internal and essential sub-concept of urban sustainability.
In Norway, there is a growing interest in urban life as opposed to previously urban space. For urban planners and designers this means that methods of spatial registration and analysis need to be extended to include user behaviour, perception and experience. Therefore, user observation and behavioural surveys have become more prominent. To this end, behaviour mapping can be used as a tool to investigate the current use of a space. While manual behaviour mapping has limitations, this paper describes the development and testing of a GIS-based application using electronic maps for registration and analysis of observed behaviour in an urban public space. The behaviour mapping application has been tested and used in a study of Stavanger Torget, the most central public space in Stavanger, Norway. The collection and analysis of data was executed to investigate the amount of users and types of activities in the space throughout the week. Here, the electronic map application proved to be helpful in terms of making registration more efficient, instantly generating digital maps of the observations and providing tabular data for further analysis. This strongly improves urban analysis with regard to behavioural observation and makes related data collection and analysis much more efficient. This ultimately allows for the creation of a GIS database regarding the relationship between physical characteristics and user behaviour, something that is particularly relevant with the growing awareness for quality in public space and urban life.
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