Urban Time and Energy (UTE)

The project UTE aims to analyse the link between time use and energy use in cities. Time-use structure of urban household members (phenomena such as "time squeeze" or synchronization of activities of different persons), the energy demand of households and the spatial organisation of cities entail each other. Available time - as much as available money - governs everyday decision making of household members concerning living space, consumption patterns and means of transportation. All of these activities are energy consuming (transport energy, heating/cooling energy, etc.). Consequently, lack of time often translates into spending more money and more energy, severely constraining individual and household choices. UTE aims to explore the options for future development which depend on internal choices (of households) as well as on changes in the framework conditions, such as time-policy measures. The principal outcome of the project is a model-based integrated understanding of the interrelation between time use and energy use in a city. Time-space-energy scenarios will highlight the potential of time-use structures for energy-use reduction. Several policy measures such as public transport intervals, flexibility of working time, opening hours of public services, spatial planning and infrastructure have changed and will change society`s patterns of time use and have an effect on both the economic performance (synergies, production and consumption patterns, income, etc.) and the natural environment (energy flows). The model analyses the decision-finding process of households according to their energy use (mostly transport and heating energy) using a "sustainability triangle" in which each corner represents one of the core sustainability dimensions (social / ecological / economic dimension). The developed model will build upon a residential location decision model currently developed for Vienna in the FP 7 project SUME (Sustainable Urban Metabolism in European cities). UTE will make major steps forward extending this simple model with assumptions about time- use requirements of households and time-affecting services and infrastructure in urban areas. This project will be able to provide toy models for three types of urban areas (urban renewal area, new residential area, urban development area). The project`s potential for successful application is to develop a decision support tool which can be used by stakeholders of communal administration, urban development and planning bodies in politics and civil society. This tool can trigger and guide time-policy measures of the city`s administration and planning processes which integrate time policy, participatory processes and energy saving. The prominent feature of the planned agent- based model is that it can easily be handled by actors outside the scientific community through its user-friendly interface. The realization of a commercially or politically useable model should be envisaged with industrial partners in a subsequent project.

Mixed land-use, efficient public transport, short distances in a multi-centred city, infrastructure and services which support low energy activities for all citizens and available at short distances are the main ingredients of a sustainable and liveable city.The way urban household members use their time, the energy demand of households and the spatial organisation of cities are interlinked. Available time - similar to available money - governs everyday decision making of household members concerning living space, consumption patterns and means of transportation. All of these activities are energy consuming (transport energy, heating/cooling energy, etc.) some more, some less. A lack of time often translates into spending more money and more energy, pushing individual and household choices towards less sustainable solutions.Several policy measures such as public transport intervals, flexibility of working time, opening hours of public services, spatial planning and infrastructure have changed and will change societys patterns of time use and have an effect on both the economic performance (synergies, production and consumption patterns, income, etc.) and the natural environment (energy demand, carbon emissions).In the research project UTE Urban time and energy: A socioecological model for assessing time- use and energy metabolism we analysed a range of hitherto unlinked datasets in order to explore the options for future development of urban energy use depending upon household decision making as well as on changes in the framework conditions such as urban infrastructure and time-policy measures.We analysed time-use data of the latest Austrian time-use survey from the year 2011 delivering insights into time-use patterns of various household types. Additionally, we drew knowledge on time use preferences from a series of stakeholder workshops and semi-structured interviews with citizens in Vienna. We used the most advanced global multi-regional Input-Output (MRIO) model to calculate the energy and carbon footprint of Austrian household consumption. Data from the latest individual- level household expenditure survey for Austria (COICOP) were cross-tabulated with the time-use activities of Viennese citizens. Energy and carbon footprints can be attributed to household types and activities alike.The conceptual links between time-use, energy use and sustainable pathways prepare for future scenarios based on different measures of the citys administration which target time policy, participatory processes and energy saving. The main strategy has to be to look for energy savings through urban infrastructure and services which support low-energy activities. Time policy in cities has to encompass mobility, services and infrastructure and places where people may spend their time with a low energy impact.