Analysis of the distribution of energy poverty in southern Spain: the relevance of working at the neighbourhood level

Abstract

This article proposes a hybrid methodology to represent the energy poverty situation in neighbourhoods with high vulnerability indices, using public data sources and surveys designed for local contexts. As an innovation, the method includes aspects of feminisation poverty, household health and information collected directly from the case study population. The San Pablo neighbourhood, in southern Spain, has been taken as a case study, to extrapolate the strategy to similar European neighbourhoods. The research has made it possible to identify new factors affecting the energy poverty situation, such as the domestic burden associated with households or the lack of accessibility to dwellings. The incorporation of this type of indicators, which have been analysed according to sex, has made it possible to highlight the process of feminisation of energy poverty in the territory under study. Based on the groups identified as the most vulnerable, new lines of research are opened to define actions and best practices that can be implemented to improve household energy vulnerability.