The Territorialisation of the Grocery Shopper Eco-ethical asceticism and environmental nostalgia

In this chapter we focus on the territorialisation of grocery shoppers and their routes and routines in the city district Western Harbour in Malmö. The Western Harbour is an urban area close to the sea that was built to afford a sustainable and ecologically friendly way of life. Here we are interested in how the mundane territorialised role of the grocery shopper has evolved among the inhabitants of this area, as well as in the impact of the design and aesthetics of the built environment on this process of territorialisation. The study is primarily based on six residents’ experiences of shopping, where routines and routes have been investigated through semi-structured interviews supplemented by participant-produced photographs and captions. Based on the findings, we discuss how eco-ethical and ascetic practices are developed in relation to the environment, as well as the role of different aspects and feelings of environmental nostalgia in stabilising the peculiar territorial role of the grocery shopper.