Normalising energy insecurity? Housing precarity, well-being, and constrained endurance in urban Hong Kong

Household energy insecurity, characterised by insufficient or unstable access to essential energy services, is closely linked to adverse mental and emotional well-being outcomes, particularly among socioeconomically vulnerable households. In high-cost, high-density urban contexts, these impacts intersect with financial strain, housing precarity, and constrained daily routines. This study examines how vulnerable households in urban Hong Kong experience, interpret, and manage the well-being impacts of energy insecurity in their everyday lives. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with individuals experiencing energy insecurity and key informants, the study explores energy-related stress and anxiety, implications for quality of life and housing conditions, and the coping practices adopted under persistent affordability pressures. The findings show that high energy costs compel households to prioritise utility payments over other basic needs, generating chronic stress, strained relationships, and restricted daily functioning. Although households employ multiple coping strategies, including behavioural adjustments, outsourcing thermal comfort, reliance on community support, and reductions in comfort expectations, these practices seldom improve well-being. Instead, they reflect processes of constrained adaptation and reluctant endurance under ongoing financial and housing constraints. The study further demonstrates how restricted energy use and associated hardships become normalised over time, shaping everyday routines rather than discrete crisis experiences. Housing conditions play a central mediating role, with substandard and insecure living environments intensifying energy needs and exposure to health and safety risks. While grounded in Hong Kong's dense urban context, the processes identified highlight broader patterns relevant to other high-cost, high-density cities where energy affordability, housing precarity, and well-being are closely intertwined.