The Social Architecture of Green Communities

Using case studies from ten European and North American countries, this book discusses the challenges connected to designing viable social architectures in a variety of green communities in urban and rural areas, and in affluent districts and government-subsidised social housing.

Global warming constitutes one of the greatest challenges of our time, but governmental responses have so far been slow and insufficient. Consequently, an increasing number of people have joined a variety of green communities to engage in collective environmental action at the grassroots level. Green communities have the potential to deliver deep and long-lasting behavioural change and carbon footprint reductions, whilst increasing the life satisfaction of participants; however, despite these benefits, they are not spreading as fast as we might expect. Exploring eco-communities, sustainable cohousing, Transition Towns, organic food cooperatives, green neighbourhoods, repair cafés, and more, this book examines why these green communities aren’t developing more rapidly, and considers the challenges that they face to their success. By assessing the problems associated with the management of collective life and decision-making, the book provides the reflexive and analytical tools required to better understand the conditions required for their survival and scalability.

Focusing on how the social architecture of green communities contributes to enriching our understanding of social sustainability as a condition for environmental sustainability, this book will be of value to students and scholars across the social sciences, particularly those with an interest in environmental anthropology, sustainability, sociology, public policy, and communication studies.