The importance of citizen participation in improving comfort and health in obsolete neighbourhoods affected by energy poverty

Abstract

This study analyses comfort and health in obsolete neighbourhoods in regions with high rates of energy poverty. The Polígono San Pablo in the city of Seville, Spain has been chosen as a case study. The research aims to highlight the importance of including participatory processes in the analysis of human rights issues, such as energy poverty. A hybrid and interdisciplinary methodology is presented which incorporates a citizen participation process. The aim is to use this methodology to identify how an obsolete building stock and lack of access to a basic energy service may be affecting people’s health. The main results obtained show the need to include citizen consultation to identify shortcomings and potentialities in obsolete neighbourhoods, especially in terms of energy education. This is expected to contribute to the creation of more effective local energy policies to address the multidimensional problem of energy poverty.