Towards a relational understanding of youth lifestyles and wellbeing in climate resilient urban development: insights from a seven-city study of young people

Kate Prendergast, Bronwyn Hayward, Midori Aoyagi, Kate Burningham, M. Mehedi Hasan, Tim Jackson, Vimlendu Jha, Anastasia Loukianov, Helio Mattar, Ingrid Schudel and Aya Yoshida
Local Environment, The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability | January 2025

Summary

Supporting youth wellbeing in low carbon ways is a crucial challenge in cities. Seventy percent of youth will live in urban areas by 2050 and urban sites account for 67–72% of the global share of carbon emissions. Young people’s consumption behaviour including energy use is increasingly identified as a key driver of urban emissions.

This paper expands beyond dominant individualised approaches to examining urban youth wellbeing and consumption to interrogate the relational contexts in which young people live, their wellbeing aspirations, and the conditions that enable or lock-in lifestyle emissions. Applying a relational lens and thematic analysis to focus group data collected from 332 youth aged 12–24 years in seven cities of the global South and North, the paper examines experiences shaping youth wellbeing in the context of urban consumption activities.

Findings emphasised the complexities of “linked lives”, foregrounding family, peer and community relationships as critical in shaping youth wellbeing and consumption. Home was highlighted as a significant relational context, where family relationships impact wellbeing and energy use, through connection, comfort, conflict and compromise. Public space was also valued, but findings highlighted issues of identity and inequality that impact access. Findings also underscored the significance of beyond-human relationships.

This cross-cultural research highlights underacknowledged complexities in youth wellbeing and consumption activities. Discussion proposes ways local government can adopt relational perspectives to advance climate resilient urban development, including cultivating meaningful relationships with youth and prioritising secure housing, access to green space, and care and integration of nature within urban landscapes.

Further Reading