Shifting Values | Prioritising Prosperity
Exploring how to feasibly introduce postgrowth transitions creating legitimacy in traditionally growth-based societies on the example of Germany
C.P. Raap (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
V.E. Balz – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
A. Wandl – Mentor (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
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Abstract
Germany is on a path of building significant amounts of new housing stock which implies high resource use and associated emissions. However, fundamental principles of national spatial development are not in line with these policies and substantial sustainability transitions still lack legitimacy in parts of society. These parts of the nation spatially coincide with areas where the people’s basic needs are not met as well as in other areas. This thesis explores how interlinking notions from the theory on human needs satisfaction with cultural politics can help to build legitimacy which is a precondition for substantive societal transformations such as introducing satiation for sustainability purposes. Achieving this legitimacy makes sustainability transitions feasible. The interlinking can be used to create criteria for practices that are capable of putting this interlinking into action. These criteria are:
- Synergistic satisfying behaviour
- Outside of traditional market logics
- Bottom-up in nature
- Integrative mode of operation
- Networking
Spatial types for strategic degrowth prefiguration are developed and tested in the city of Dessau. Implementing these can support society moving towards introducing satiation as a core principle. The implementation of the spatial types can happen inside of the existing urban fabric and has the potential to utilize spaces that are under-utilized right now like fallow areas or vacant buildings. Starting off from the existing elements in space, physically and programmatically, greatly increases the feasibility of such approaches.