Designing for Sufficiency

Large parts of our society strive for more, for bigger and better. Without consistency, however, the necessary climate targets will be missed by a wide margin, despite every effort. In reality, we experience so-called rebound effects. The constant increase in demands for quality of life and energy requirements cannot be compensated for by advances in efficiency. For example, the growing need for living space per person, with actually falling heat demand per living space, leads to an overall stagnating or even increasing per capita heat consumption. Sufficiency, i.e. the reduction of demand, is, therefore, an important, consistent continuation of the idea of sustainability and plays a decisive role in our planning right from the start. We at CITYFÖRSTER ask ourselves "How is less better than more?" and find solutions to support sustainable ways of life through our designs in architecture and urban planning. We are expanding the reduction in private living space to an average of 28 m² instead of the 47 m² that is usual in Germany, for example through shared rooms in the building, in the neighborhood or the district. We see the immense opportunity to create added value for everyone, promote synergies and guarantee a sustainable quality of life. Due to the savings in space, energy and material, the new way of life is not only an answer for affordable living space but also easier to maintain and take responsibility for.