The challenges of sustainable urban development are tremendous. More than half of the earth’s population lives in cities and there is an upward trend. On a global scale, the cities are the greatest greenhouse gas producers and the biggest consumers of water and energy. Urbanisation, climate change and demographic change are forcing metropolises to make their infrastructure more efficient, be environmentally friendlier, keep the high standard of living and if possible save costs. One of the keys is the selection of materials. Buildings are responsible for 40% of the energy consumption and approx. 21% of produced CO2 worldwide. Scientists and researchers from all over the world are looking into new technologies, so that energy could be used efficiently and CO2 emissions reduced, without having to pass on comfort or “lifestyle habits” [http://www.siemens.de/nachhaltige-stadtentwicklung/nachhaltige-stadtentwicklung.html?stc=deccc020187 (accessed 27.04.2012)]. Sustainability is a complex term, used in the last 2–3 decades. It involves more than just the environment and it concerns every one of mankind [cf. Schlussbericht der Enquete-Kommission Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft – Herausfordeung-en und Antworten, Drucksache 14/9200, http://dipbt.bundestag.de/dip21/btd/14/092/1409200.pdf, p. 393]. This is why social and engineering scientists from RWTH Aachen University have joined in their efforts to figure out how used shipping containers, which are in abundant supply, can play their role in the future of sustainable construction. After they have been used several times, freight containers are considered disused and begin to accumulate in the surroundings of seaports and harbours. The energy to produce a container is significant and considered wasted if the steel box has completed only a few runs. The first association with containers can be a cold and uncomfortable cell, however, after a glance at the properly adapted shipping containers, converted into cosy, pretty and affordable habitable spaces, this preconception can soon be dismissed. Research has shown, in terms of environment and design, they are innovative and intelligent – building with cargo containers is cheaper, “greener”, faster and more flexible than traditional methods. With the increase of life expectancy and population continuing to grow, demand for housing will rise as well. Demographic change and the demand will contribute to rising construction prices. Habitation is one of the essential basic needs of all people. If one takes into account population growth and the timely provision of housing for all people, existing construction methods have to be adapted and new ones developed. Space in the social sense is an expression of the society and not its reflexion [cf. M. Castells, The Rise of Network Society, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 440f]. Bearing in mind the diversity in Europe’s population and the anxiety for environmental protection and sustainability, also the contrariness in environmental awareness and behavior, likewise eco-friendly and polluting habits in our everyday life, which are linked together in a various and unconsidered way, validates having different levels of environmental awareness depending on the different segments of society. We speak here of the “patchwork” – character of lifestyles and values, which is illustrated and explained easily with the Sinus-Milieu-Model [Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz und Reaktorsicherheit, Umweltbewusstsein in Deutschland 2010, Ergebnisse einer repräsentativen Bevölkerungsumfrage, 2010, p. 13]. This paper discusses the existing Sinus-Milieus® [http://www.sinus-institut.de/en/ (accessed 27.04.2012)] and their features and show hereupon the growing demand in the society on flexible living concepts and habitat designs. The theory supports, that building with steel containers could be a real solution for the social and environmental problems. A continuously availability of shippingcontainers as a building block is expected and therefore the construction business with steel containers has a great potential in terms of sustainability towards a sustainable construction in a sustainable city.

Shipping containers have many names: cargo containers, sea cans, metal boxes, freightcontainers. Originally they were constructed, as the name reveals, “tocontain” and store items and mainly to transport goods. Freight containers are built tostrict international quality standards, to survive harsh treatment and a violent life inthe marine environment 1. The main technical detailsregarding containers were specified in an ISO (International Organization forStandardization) standard in January 1968 2. Thehistory of the shipping container starts like any other invention with a simple thought.It takes Malcom McLean, father of the shipping container, over 20 years to realize hisrevolutionary idea for the shipping industry and create a closed transport chain ofuniversal freight container for ships, trucks and trains 3. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that shipping containers have laid thefoundation for globalization and changed the world. Over 95% of the worldwide tradeaffairs are winded up in containers. Today, international freight transportation is nolonger conceivable without containerization. There are approx. 28 million containerscirculating the globe. In the last couple of years up to 3 billion TEU (Twenty-footEquivalent Unit) shipping containers were produced annually, mainly in Asia 4. Most of the freight containers are made out ofCOR-TEN-Steel, which ensures strong carrying and loading capacity and supportswithstanding deformations or corrosion. Once they have served their purpose, shippingcontainers are being recycled as scrap. Another possibility is to be used in thearchitecture as spatial modules. A container’s life is ca.12 years and every year up to1.5 billion TEU are considered disused. The continued availability of shipping containersas a building block is thus assured. Therefore, the construction business with containershas a great potential regarding sustainability. In the last 15 years shipping containerconstruction has become popular for not only living spaces and homes, but for offices,studios, schools – the variety of uses is huge. Containers offer suitable solutions for awide range of uses. The increasing interest in these “icons of globalization” can beexplained with the fact, that they are relatively inexpensive, structurally sound and inabundant supply 6. Using old freight containerscould be seen as an environmental protection strategy and also as a redesign of technicalartefacts. Building with shipping containers is a new more affordable method ofconstruction and design. Due to metamorphose in functionality and meaning of containers –from a cargo box into a habitable space – we realize how big the technical range ofdiversity is. Technique reaches and changes the “Social” through design. The impreciseterm design, which has become a vogue term nowadays, is the interfacebetween technique, body, mind and communication 5.Designed objects are always also symbolic objects for different milieus; design has aneffect on awareness raising, thus on environmental awareness. An ongoing project at RWTHAachen University gives attention exactly to those disused shipping containers, theireventuality and boundary as environmental protection strategies in the living area, aswell as to the well-known cleavage between environmental awareness and environmentalbehaviour. The project focuses on the living situation in Germany and its potential forsuch new and innovative living concepts.