Compensating for compactness? Consumption and leisure travel of city dwellers vs. small town dwellers in Denmark

Abstract

The following article summarises the first results of a two-part study on consumption patterns in Denmark and leisure travel in Greater Copenhagen in particular. The study aims to map direct (e. g. free time travel) and indirect (e. g. goods and services) energy use related to different types of spatial structure ("urban" vs. "rural" settlement structure) and investigates possible explanations for differences in the use of energy. The study is on the one hand based on nationwide Danish household consumption data of Statistics Denmark and on the other hand on the results of an online questionnaire survey, which was conducted specifically for this study in May and June 2016 in an inner district of Copenhagen and a small town in the commuter belt of Copenhagen. The results indicate some sort of compensatory activities among city dwellers and suggest thereby, particularly in an urban context, including leisure travel and indirect energy use more in energy efficiency considerations.