The Behavioural Field includes everything about how we live in the Built and Biological Fields, from our most unconscious actions through to complex collective organisation that extends from the household out into the wider community and economy.

This section begins with a chapter outlining the Ownership and living arrangements that you could consider before embarking on a retrosuburban journey – my survey of the options covers a rapidly evolving territory of creative solutions! Next we dive into the touchy task of looking at the habits and roles that may be blocking you from finding and following your downshifting path: Changing habits for self-reliance and resilience. Behaviour changes are often critical to avoid some of the perennial issues in our Transport and travel.

Creating your own livelihood in a downsizing world is especially important for younger people planning for the future. And for older people aware of the pointers to uncertain futures, working out what to do with savings and assets often ends up in the too-hard basket, allowing the default usual suspects to determine what happens to our money; the Financial planning and security chapter offers some alternative suggestions. There are no easy answers in either aspect of financing our choices but I provide a review of the options and the pros and cons.

The Sustaining and sustainable diet chapter gets back to basics about aligning our habits and desires with foraged and farmed abundance of season and place. Food and raising children can be one of the make or break issues for most households, thus food naturally segues to Rearing self-reliant and resilient children. As if it couldn’t get any more personal and tender, the Health, disability and aging and Security in hard times chapters address some of the toughest issues downshifters will face.

While some of these topics take us into uncharted territory, Household disaster planning brings us back, with a retrosuburban perspective on widely accepted best practice for all households given the predictions and evidence of climate change. Finally Decision making, interpersonal relations and conflict resolution focuses attention on tricky subjects that many of us recognise as the weak link in creating vibrant and resilient households.

In every chapter I have tried to provide a strategic overview, practical tips and encouragement to collaborate in bringing retrosuburbia to life – and making it the new normal in your household, street and neighbourhood. Even when we can’t change the building, the season or the people we live with, we can always change how we see and experience life for the better.