Identifying Socioeconomic and Cultural Patterns in the Heat Consumption of Copenhagen Households

This paper explores spatial correlations between the heat consumption and the socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of households in the City of Copenhagen. The purpose is to analyse how the social, cultural, and economic structures affect heat consumption differences in the city and to find out which household types need political targeting in order to reach the goal of a 20% decrease in the Copenhagen heat consumption in 2025 compared to 2010. Using a combination of choropleth maps, Pearson’s R, and regression analyses, the total effects as well as direct effects of socioeconomic and cultural variables on heat consumption per capita are analysed. A life-cycle pattern is found to describe heat consumption per capita, but it is challenged by the existence of an income divide between a new generation of wealthy families with small children living in newer, semi-detached houses with better energy labels and non-western ethnic people tending to have low income. The income divide affects the economic motivations and options for decreasing heat consumption per capita.

本研究聚焦哥本哈根市居民家庭的热力消费与社会经济、文化特征之间的空间关联。本研究旨在剖析社会、文化与经济结构如何影响本市热力消费差异，并明确哪些家庭类型需要政策靶向支持，以实现相较于2010年，哥本哈根市2025年热力消费降低20%的目标。本研究结合分级统计图（choropleth maps）、皮尔逊相关系数（Pearson’s R）与回归分析方法，对社会经济与文化变量对人均热力消费的总效应与直接效应展开分析。研究发现人均热力消费呈现生命周期特征，但这一特征被两类群体间的收入鸿沟所打破：一类是育有年幼子女、居住于能效评级更高的新型半独立住宅的新一代富裕家庭，另一类则是收入偏低的非西方族裔群体。该收入鸿沟影响了家庭降低人均热力消费的经济动机与可行选择。