Climate change and human behaviour
David Chapman ¹, Agneta Larsson ²
¹ David.Chapman@ltu.se, Architecture Group, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.
² Agneta Larsson@ltu.se, Department of Health Sciences, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden.
Introduc on
This poster explores the human dimension of non-motorised
transport, i.e. so -mobility in Arc c communi es. Empirical
results are used to show how people’s modal choice in the
European Arc c is being influenced by climate evolu on and
human-made climate change. From these results, it is possible
to conceive new visions of the how to design the outside
environments of Arc c se lements that can be er enable
people to move around in Arc c communi es with reduced
reliance on vehicles. At the societal level, this research will help
reduce energy consump on and pollu on from transport.
The project is supported by the ARCTIC FIVE (a partnership of UiT The Arc c University of Norway, Luleå University of Technology, Umeå University, The University of Lapland and The University of Oulu)
The aim of this study, was to assess how clima c
change is influencing so -mobility and use of outdoor
public space in the winter season.
It reveals that the changing winter condi ons
associated with global warming are bringing new and
evolving barriers and enablers to the use of the public
realm of winter ci es, for non-motorised transit and
the use of public space.
Method
A cross-sec onal survey; ‘EAMQ-Climate’ & ‘EAMQ-Climate: space’ was under in Luleå, Sweden and distributed via web-based pla orms. In Sweden, survey responses were received form 212 people. Web-based survey responses were received from 361 residents (258 people from Scandinavia and 103 from Canada). The rela ve impact of the meteorological determinants on non-motorised transport, i.e. so -mobility and the use of public space was calculated.
Results
The main barriers to the use of public space were slushy and icy ground and rainfall. In addi on, darkness had a nega ve influence on people’s use of public space.
For so -mobility, the condi ons of rain, icy surfaces and darkness were seen as the primary barriers in winter.
The results reveal that sunshine and snow-covered surfaces, were not avoided, and were perceived as posi ve condi ons.
The study highlights that winter public space has a higher clima c design requirement to be successful than streets and pathways that are mainly used for so -mobility.
Today’s barriers to so -mobility and use of public space in winter ci es can broadly be correlated to metrological condi ons pre-dicted by global warming.
Conclusions: If climate change in the Arc c and sub-Arc c
con nues at the pace of today, and as scenario project,
to-morrow’s barriers to so -mobility and using public space in
winter maybe different.
As such planner and designers in cold-climate areas should
not consider weather condi ons as stable and we should
expect them to change with global warming.
References
Chapman, D., & Larsson, A. (2019). Toward an Integrated Model for So -Mobili-ty. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 16, 3669
Chapman et al. (2018). Upda ng winter : the importance of climate-sensi ve urban design for winter se lements. ArcƟc Yearbook, 86-105.
Larsson, A., & Chapman, D. (2020-forthcoming). Perceived impact of meteoro-logical condi ons on the use of public space in winter se lements.
InternaƟon-al JournInternaƟon-al of Biometeorology.
Non-motorised transport, i.e. so -mobility
Understanding modal choice in a rapidly urbanising Arc c
Use of public space
(a) Blue band is the control for so -mobility (b) Factors of signficance;
Rain and Ice.
(a) Blue band acts as the control for the use of public space (b) Factors of signficance;
darkness, snow, rain, cold, wind, ice and slush.
