IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/urbpla/v3y2018i2p113-127.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Neighborhood “Choice Architecture”: A New Strategy for Lower-Emissions Urban Planning?

Author

Listed:
  • Michael W. Mehaffy

    (Centre for the Future of Places, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)

Abstract

Recent advances in the field of behavioral economics offer intriguing insights into the ways that consumer decisions are influenced and may be influenced more deliberately to better meet community-wide and democratic goals. We demonstrate that these insights open a door to urban planners who may thereby develop strategies to alter urban-scale consumption behaviors that may significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per capita. We first hypothesize that it is possible, through feasible changes in neighborhood structure, to alter the “choice architecture” of neighborhoods in order to achieve meaningful GHG reductions. We then formulate a number of elements of “choice architecture” that may be applied as tools at the neighborhood scale. We examine several neighborhoods that demonstrate variations in these elements, and from known inventories, we generate a preliminary assessment of the possible magnitude of GHG reductions that may be available. Although we acknowledge many remaining challenges, we conclude that “neighborhood choice architecture” offers a promising new strategy meriting further research and development.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael W. Mehaffy, 2018. "Neighborhood “Choice Architecture”: A New Strategy for Lower-Emissions Urban Planning?," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(2), pages 113-127.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v3:y:2018:i:2:p:113-127
    DOI: 10.17645/up.v3i2.1296
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/1296
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/up.v3i2.1296?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James M. Dobbie, 1968. "A Survey of Search Theory," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 525-537, June.
    2. repec:cdl:uctcwp:qt15g4c2j8 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Keemin Sohn & Jiyoung Yun, 2009. "Separation of car-dependent commuters from normal-choice riders in mode-choice analysis," Transportation, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 423-436, July.
    4. Esther-Mirjam Sent, 2004. "Behavioral Economics: How Psychology Made Its (Limited) Way Back Into Economics," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 36(4), pages 735-760, Winter.
    5. Baynes, Timothy & Lenzen, Manfred & Steinberger, Julia K. & Bai, Xuemei, 2011. "Comparison of household consumption and regional production approaches to assess urban energy use and implications for policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(11), pages 7298-7309.
    6. Pucher, J. & Dijkstra, L., 2003. "Promoting Safe Walking and Cycling to Improve Public Health: Lessons from The Netherlands and Germany," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(9), pages 1509-1516.
    7. Frank, Lawrence Douglas & Saelens, Brian E. & Powell, Ken E. & Chapman, James E., 2007. "Stepping towards causation: Do built environments or neighborhood and travel preferences explain physical activity, driving, and obesity?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(9), pages 1898-1914, November.
    8. Reid Ewing & Fang Rong, 2008. "The impact of urban form on U.S. residential energy use," Housing Policy Debate, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 1-30, January.
    9. Sorrell, Steve, 2009. "Jevons' Paradox revisited: The evidence for backfire from improved energy efficiency," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1456-1469, April.
    10. Trenton G. Smith, 2004. "The McDonald’s Equilibrium. Advertising, empty calories, and the endogenous determination of dietary preferences," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 23(3), pages 383-413, December.
    11. Richard Steinberg & Willard I. Zangwill, 1983. "The Prevalence of Braess' Paradox," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 301-318, August.
    12. Cervero, Robert & Radisch, Carolyn, 1996. "Travel choices in pedestrian versus automobile oriented neighborhoods," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 127-141, July.
    13. Smith, Gerald E. & Venkatraman, Meera P. & Dholakia, Ruby Roy, 1999. "Diagnosing the search cost effect: Waiting time and the moderating impact of prior category knowledge," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 285-314, June.
    14. repec:cdl:itsdav:qt9967365w is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Gowdy, John M., 2008. "Behavioral economics and climate change policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 68(3-4), pages 632-644, December.
    16. Strengers, Yolande, 2012. "Peak electricity demand and social practice theories: Reframing the role of change agents in the energy sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 226-234.
    17. Eric Johnson & Suzanne Shu & Benedict Dellaert & Craig Fox & Daniel Goldstein & Gerald Häubl & Richard Larrick & John Payne & Ellen Peters & David Schkade & Brian Wansink & Elke Weber, 2012. "Beyond nudges: Tools of a choice architecture," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 487-504, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael W. Mehaffy, 2018. "Neighborhood “Choice Architecture”: A New Strategy for Lower-Emissions Urban Planning?," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 3(2), pages 113-127.
    2. repec:cdl:uctcwp:qt51c9m01c is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Sandra Waddock, 2020. "Reframing and Transforming Economics around Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Hankey, Steve & Marshall, Julian D., 2010. "Impacts of urban form on future US passenger-vehicle greenhouse gas emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(9), pages 4880-4887, September.
    5. Millward, Hugh & Spinney, Jamie & Scott, Darren, 2013. "Active-transport walking behavior: destinations, durations, distances," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 101-110.
    6. Sandra Waddock, 2021. "Wellbeing Economics Narratives for a Sustainable Future," Humanistic Management Journal, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 151-167, July.
    7. Changlong Sun & Yongli Zhang & Wenwen Ma & Rong Wu & Shaojian Wang, 2022. "The Impacts of Urban Form on Carbon Emissions: A Comprehensive Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-20, August.
    8. Hamid Mostofi & Houshmand Masoumi & Hans-Liudger Dienel, 2020. "The Relationship between Regular Use of Ridesourcing and Frequency of Public Transport Use in the MENA Region (Tehran and Cairo)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-19, October.
    9. Óscar Carpintero, 2013. "When Heterodoxy Becomes Orthodoxy: Ecological Economics in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(5), pages 1287-1314, November.
    10. Fournier, Eric D. & Federico, Felicia & Porse, Erik & Pincetl, Stephanie, 2019. "Effects of building size growth on residential energy efficiency and conservation in California," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 446-452.
    11. Neatt, Kevin & Millward, Hugh & Spinney, Jamie, 2017. "Neighborhood walking densities: A multivariate analysis in Halifax, Canada," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 9-16.
    12. Zhao, Chunli & Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick & Olafsson, Anton Stahl & Carstensen, Trine Agervig & Meng, Xiaoying, 2018. "Urban form, demographic and socio-economic correlates of walking, cycling, and e-biking: Evidence from eight neighborhoods in Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 102-112.
    13. Ying Huang & Yongli Zhang & Feifan Deng & Daiqing Zhao & Rong Wu, 2022. "Impacts of Built-Environment on Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Traffic: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-17, December.
    14. Lohse, Johannes & Goeschl, Timo & Diederich , Johannes, 2014. "Giving is a question of time: Response times and contributions to a real world public good," Working Papers 0566, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    15. Miguel Godinho de Matos & Pedro Ferreira, 2020. "The Effect of Binge-Watching on the Subscription of Video on Demand: Results from Randomized Experiments," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 1337-1360, December.
    16. Filippo Corsini & Rafael Laurenti & Franziska Meinherz & Francesco Paolo Appio & Luca Mora, 2019. "The Advent of Practice Theories in Research on Sustainable Consumption: Past, Current and Future Directions of the Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-19, January.
    17. Dow Alexander & Dow Sheila C., 2011. "Animal Spirits Revisited," Capitalism and Society, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 1-25, December.
    18. Wenzheng Li & Stephan Schmidt, 2024. "Can spatial patterns mitigate the urban heat island effect? Evidence from German metropolitan regions," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 51(8), pages 1948-1964, October.
    19. Steffen Dalsgaard, 2022. "Can IT Resolve the Climate Crisis? Sketching the Role of an Anthropology of Digital Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-17, May.
    20. Spielman, Seth E. & Yoo, Eun-hye, 2009. "The spatial dimensions of neighborhood effects," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1098-1105, March.
    21. Vaidya, Shalvaree, 2021. "The impact of premium subsidies on health plan choices in Switzerland: Who responds to the incentives set by in-kind as opposed to cash transfers?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(6), pages 675-684.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v3:y:2018:i:2:p:113-127. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.