Planning for Change: The Roles of Habitual Practice and Habitus in Planning Practice

Abstract

This article, which draws on psychological and sociological theories, argues that if current planning practices are to change to achieve more sustainable and socially affordable housing, planners' current habitual practices and the context in which planning occurs must change. By considering practices that occur in specific contexts, the conditions under which change can occur are delineated. This is achieved by understanding the universal nature of habitual practices and how they are affected by, and reproduce, context. The utility of this approach to changing planning practices is highlighted using two case studies. These involve the shift by builders to using sustainable materials in the construction of a master-planned community and the achievement of water saving targets in one Australian city. Finally, recommendations about how planning practices can be changed, based on the suggested approach, are presented.

“This is the way ‘I’ create my passwords” ... does the endowment effect deter people from changing the way they create their passwords?

“…The situation is probably multi-factorial, and complex, as is most human behavior [130]. It is likely that a range of influences come into play when people reject security advice, and that the reasons differ from person to person and from day to day, depending on a wide range of causatives, ranging from individual to contextual to organizational pressures and characteristics [20]. That being so, we cannot expect any one explanation, and intervention, to "solve" this and remove all resistance.…”

“…To investigate the phenomenon of perceived ownership and the endowment effect, as it relates to computer users choosing, then owning, their password creation routine, we must necessarily look at both variance and process theories. Binder and Boldero [20] argue that consideration of habit must be included whenever human behavior is being contemplated. James [84] argued that habits (pre-existing routines) were essential in understanding how humans behave.…”

Spillover effects of sustainable consumption: combining identity process theory and theories of practice

“…IPT and TPs agree that awareness is a poor ground for pro-environmental actions (Thøgersen and Crompton 2009); that habitual behavior and routines are not consciously driven, as they are not a result of rational decision-making processes; and that the performance of action is made possible by social-technical (structural, temporal and spatial) elements (Boldero and Binder 2013;Binder and Boldero 2012;Whitmarsh, O'Neill, and Lorenzoni 2011;Jackson 2005). Another aspect that makes the combination suitable is that both IPT and TPs seek to describe the constitutive aspects, dynamics, and embedded sociohistorical configuration of their research foci.…”

Designing Interventions that Last: A Classification of Environmental Behaviors in Relation to the Activities, Costs, and Effort Involved for Adoption and Maintenance

“…Our third observation is that some environmental behaviors are more difficult to adopt and maintain than others because they face practical barriers, such as cost and effort. Typically altering existing behavior involves less cost and effort than performing entirely new activities (Binder and Boldero, 2012 ). Domestic and daily life behaviors, such as recycling and travel, tend to involve altering existing behavior.…”