Who will opt for a green community?

Andres Duany identifies four main target groups and their outlooks. To produce sustainable buildings and communities, it’s important to know who would like to live in them. Andres Duany identifies four target markets, which differ in outlook and personality. At the Green Architecture and Urbanism Council, he presented profiles of the four groups and discussed how to appeal to each of them: • Ethicists: These are “the original environmental activists” and moralists and regulators, symbolized by Al Gore. They are motivated by guilt. “At their worst, they’re aggrieved and wear hair shirts.” In Germany, these folks may be the lion’s share of the market, but in the US, guilt does not motivate most people, and may in fact cause them to turn away, so new urbanists should be wary of tailoring their message to appeal mainly to ethicists. • Trendsetters: These consumers are willing to make choices that generate environmental benefits, but not if it means sacrifice. They will recycle when it’s convenient. They will embrace energy-saving housing, but it “cannot look weird.” At worst, they are “subject to feel-good tokenism.” On the other hand, these “cool-hunting consumers will cause the tipping point” that allows a new way of doing things to prevail. They’re represented by Leonardo DiCaprio with his Prius. The approach that fits them will prove popular with architecture students, among others. • Opportunists: These pragmatic, optimistic, entrepreneurial people welcome advances in technology. They love “gadget-green” buildings. Their model: Nicholas Negroponte, founder of MIT’s Media Lab. Their emblem: the wind turbine. “They count on economic self-interest rather than regulation” to lead society toward improved buildings and communities, Duany observed. They will create many jobs. At their worst, “they can distract us from effective solutions” by becoming enthusiastic about questionable remedies like ethanol. (A discussion during the Council concluded that “gadget-green” is a more neutral phrase than the alternative, “gizmo-green,” which is generally seen as pejorative. So gadget-green is the better term to use.) • Survivalists: These are pessimists who believe severe global warming and/or resource depletion are inevitable. Their representative: author James Howard Kunstler. “They will adapt their lifestyles for the “Long Emergency,” the bleak period when oil production declines. The survivalists will spur “more discussion of how we’re going to adapt to global warming.” (At the Council, a strong case was made that climate change has already begun and cannot be stopped, so a certain amount of adaptation will be essential.) Survivalists will “circle the wagons for family and community,” Duany said. “They will prepare for off-the-grid living. At their worst, they are paranoid about security. They may constitute the majority someday.” So new urbanists thinking about how to market sustainable development should “think about security.” Duany also identified a fifth group, the Apathetics, individuals who are “ignorant, skeptical, or indifferent.” Their model: Dick Cheney. “They will come along if it is cheaper or easier or when their ass gets hot,” Duany said. “At their worst, they cancel out the progress of the others.” It’s futile to spend much time trying to reach people of such little positive motivation, he advised. “It’s not our job to change their minds. There are 800 organizations whose job it is to change their minds.” know your audience New urbanists, Duany said, should have the prescience to ask themselves: Are you speaking to an ethicist, a survivalist, or a member of one of the other market segments? You can build the same project for people of differing outlooks, but you should present it differently, depending on the target. Responding to Duany’s characterizations, Galina Tahchieva of Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. pointed out that “ethicists would love downtown plans and brownfield redevelopments.” Architect and urban designer Steve Coyle said it will be essential to “demonstrate that these solutions work over time.” Duany said the number of built new urbanist developments is substantial, so it’s possible to study them and generate well-researched conclusions about how they perform on sustainability.