Abstract：

Reducing energy demand is not simply about developing energy efficiency measures and technologies，but also changing behaviour and everyday practices. Although the over-emphasis on individual behaviour as the main driver of transition to low-carbon societies may be contested on the grounds that it distracts attention from the wider structural，economic and political factors，it is widely acknowledged that pro-environmental behaviours play an important part in such a transition. This paper aims to address these questions by drawing on three dominant perspectives on environmental behaviour and its drivers: the rational economic，the psychological and the sociological perspectives. The aim is to provide a conceptual understanding of behaviour，illustrated with examples from energy consumption.

Keywords：

Urban Energy Consumption; Consumption Behaviour; Rational Economic Perspective; Psychological Perspective; Sociological Perspective