Murtagh, NM; Gatersleben, B; Fife-Schaw, C; (2017) Householders as actors for urban resilience: What influences the intentions of English householders to take precautionary action against overheating? In: Proceedings of the IAPS 2017 Symposium. International Association of People-Environment Studies (IAPS): Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

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Abstract

Many regions globally, including temperate zones, are exposed to increasing temperatures and more frequent heatwaves as global warming continues. As part of urban resilience, there is much that householders can do to minimise the risk of overheating in their homes. Previous research on flooding has applied Protection Motivation Theory to examine determinants of householder engagement with precautionary action. However, flooding risks differ from those of overheating in several ways. The current study builds on this work to address the gap on understanding householder propensity to install precautionary measures against overheating. A large-scale survey (n = 1,007) of householders was conducted in the south of England. The findings show that householders are ill-prepared to deal with predicted temperature rises. While perception of threat risk and severity has an influence on their intention to take action, their appraisal of their ability to make changes, the effectiveness of the changes and convenience are stronger factors, particularly for flat dwellers. The study shows that, in addition to climate change predictions and evidence in building science, knowledge of behavioural determinants is essential for policy aimed at engaging householders as actors for urban resilience to increasing temperatures.

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