Understanding consumption in Melbourne s multicultural society

Transcription

1 Understanding consumption in Melbourne s multicultural society ECOCITY WORLD SUMMIT JULY 2017 Dr. Christina YP Ting Prof. Peter Newton Asso. Prof. Wendy Stone Centre for Urban Transitions Swinburne University of Technology CRICOS 00111D TOID 3059

2 Outline Australia s multicultural society Migrants Environment issues Change in consumption behaviour upon settlement in Melbourne Findings and discussion

3 Table 1: Overview of Australia-born and overseasborn residents (percentage) from 1966 to 2011 Australia born Overseas born Total population Source: derived from data supplied by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS )

4 Overseas born population residing in each state and territory % of the overseasborn population lived in a capital city compared with 61% of Australia born Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2016

5 Table 2: Top six countries of birth for migrants, by year and percentage of no. of Australian population England 5.3 England 6.6 United Kingdom 5.6 United Kingdom 6.6 United Kingdom 6.0 United Kingdom 5.5 United Kingdom 5.2 United Kingdom 5.1 United Kingdom 5.0 Italy 2.1 Scotland 1.2 Greece 1.1 Italy 2.3 Greece 1.3 Scotland 1.3 Italy 1.7 New Zealand 1.4 Scotland 1.0 New Zealand 1.6 Italy 1.5 Yugoslavia 1.0 New Zealand 1.6 Italy 1.3 Vietnam 0.9 New Zealand 1.9 Italy 1.2 Vietnam 0.8 New Zealand 2.0 China 1.0 Italy 1.0 New Zealand 2.2 China 1.5 India 1.4 New Zealand 2.9 China 2.2 India 1.9 Germany 0.9 Netherlands 0.8 Germany 0.9 Netherland s 0.8 Yugoslavia 1.0 Greece 0.9 Greece 0.8 Italy & Vietnam 0.7 Greece 0.7 China 0.6 China 0.8 Greece 0.6 Vietnam 0.8 Note: United Kingdom includes England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel islands, Isle of Man, and United Kingdom, not further defined; China (excludes SARs and Taiwan Province) India 0.7 Italy 0.9 Vietnam 0.9 Source: derived from data supplied by ABS ( ) Philippines & Vietnam 1.0 Italy 0.8

6 21 st century challenges Climate change Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission Increasing population Increasing consumption

7 Map of the study area 61 China-born 72 Australiaborn

8 Ecological footprint Selection of a suitable calculator The ecological footprint calculator from Centre of Sustainable Economy The total ecological footprint, global hectares (gha)

9 Ecological footprint Four components of the ecological footprint: Carbon, Housing, Travel, and Goods & Services Pre-migration and post-migration footprints of the China-born migrants Footprints of the Australia-born group

10 Fig. 1: Mean pre-and post-migration footprints In China: In Melbourne = 1:3.3 Ecological footprint, gha gha In China 69.8 gha In Melbourne

11 Fig. 2: Mean total footprint and four footprint components of China-and Australia-born groups Mean footprint in global hectares Total ecological footprint Carbon footprint (Energy, Travel) Food footprint (Food) Housing footprint (Dwelling type and size, water use) Goods & Services footprint (Purchasing behaviours, waste generation and management) Total ecological footprint and the four components of footprint Australia born China born

12 Fig. 3: Comparison of dwelling context of the China-born group in China and Melbourne Percentage In China In Melbourne Dwelling type

13 Causes of changed consumption behaviours of China-born migrants Contextual factors, such as the wide availability of detached dwellings

14 Fig 4: Dwelling types in the study area of Box Hill, Melbourne Percentage Separate dwelling Semi detached/ terrace/ town house with one storey Semi detached/ terrace/ town house with two or more storey Flat or apartment Dwelling type

15 Fig. 5: Comparison between China-born group s dwelling context in Melbourne and China Percentage Categories of response: Larger/More No change Smaller/Less Size of home(exclude garden) Size of home (include garden) No. of bedrooms No. of bathrooms Dwelling context

16 Fig. 6: Conceptual framework for exploring determinants of sustainable living and resource consumption among China- and Australia-born groups Determinants of Consumption Individual structural attributes Gender Age Income Individual behavioural attributes (indexes) Conservation Behaviours Index (CBI) Environmental Awareness Index (AI) Resource efficient technologies Index (REI) Household context Household size Dwelling context Dwelling type Dwelling size Tenure Cultural context The CALD Index Sustainable living metrics Ecological footprint Measures for sustainable living in specific consumption categories: Energy Water Waste generation and management Food Travel Housing

17 The CALD Index The unique index refers to the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities found in Australia today. CALD Index = Ethnicity + Language + Religion +Food + Festivals + Social interactions + Cultural identity Ethnicity (country of birth) = Participant + Father + Mother Language = Language spoken at home + Spoken English proficiency Religion = Religious affiliation Food = Food preference Festivals = Participate in Australian cultural activities + community activities Social interaction = visit local library + Participate in local environmental activities Cultural identity = Relate to Australian culture and society

18 The CALD Index Score of 12 - strong connectedness with the host culture and 48 to Chinese culture The CALD Index measures individuals connectedness with their ethnic culture.

19 Table 3: Summary of relative strength of the predictors (Beta value) differentiating total ecological footprint measurements of China- and Australia-born groups Total ecological footprint Housing footprint Carbon footprint Good and Services Food Environmental Awareness Index (AI) ( 0.314**) Dwelling size (150 square meters or larger) (0.295**) Gender (Male) (0.196**) Income (Low) ( 0.192**) Car ownership (0.192**) Conservation Behaviours Index (CBI) ( 0.189**) Dwelling size (150 square meters or larger) (0.496***) Environmental Awareness Index (AI) ( 0.236**) Dwelling type (Detached dwelling) (0.227***) Tenure (Home owner) (0.200**) Resource efficient Technologies Index (REI) ( 0.173**) Income 2 (Low) ( 0.170**) CALD Index (0.167*) Age 3 (45 years or older ) ( 0.136**) Employment (Employed) ( 0.130*) Environmental Awareness Index (AI) ( 0.217*) Resource efficient Technologies Index (REI) ( 0.201*) Household size ( 0.196**) CALD Index 2 (0.195*) Car ownership (0.154*) footprint CALD Index ( 0.484***) Income (Low) ( 0.295**) Environmental Awareness Index (AI) ( 0.253**) footprint Gender (Male) (0.307***) Conservation Behaviours Index (CBI) ( 0.254*)

20 Cultural causes of large change in consumption behaviours of China-born migrants Catch up with Australian levels of housing consumption Their choices suggest these possessions (large, visible) symbolise their financial achievements, attainment of, and alignment with, Australia s affluent lifestyle. To portray their success as migrants

21 The large change in footprint of the Chinaborn reflects Retention of strong connectedness with Chinese culture Their strong feelings of ethnic pride would have enhanced their maintenance of two Chinese cultural features: mien-tzŭ (save face) Chinese materialism

22 Conclusion A need to better understand individuals consumption behavior in terms of the influence of conventional factors such as age and income and also cultural influence such as ethnic culture and societal context. Changing lives of migrants in the contexts of social and physical environments and adaptation to developed countries affluence and high consumption level.

23 Conclusion This study has shown that the China-born respondents living in Melbourne do not form a homogeneous group with regard to changes in the different consumption categories. And thus a need to target individuals within each population group.

24 Conclusion Cultural shift toward status-based value of more sustainable housing: specifically high status/visibility sustainable dwellings as a niche housing product. Sustainability education for newly arrivals. Education on the host s environment issues such as climate change and GHG emission and its adaptation for newly arrivals.

25 Dr. Christina YP Ting, Prof. Peter Newton, Asso. Prof. Wendy Stone, Thank you The Housing footprint was presented earlier at Australian Housing Researchers Conference (AHRC), February 2017 and ACCARNSI CONFERENCE 2017, Early Career Researcher, 13 th National Forum and Workshop, February 2017.