For cities in the Global South, energy policy must reduce energy use without further punishing urban poor communities. Field trials have established that economic insufficiency-driven restrained behavior is detrimental to wellbeing. The voices of urban poor communities must be heard for healthier living: ignoring their needs could come at a cost.
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We acknowledge IRCC, IIT Bombay for their continued support. No funding was received for this research.
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A.S. contributed to the conceptualization, investigation, and writing and editing of the original manuscript. A.J. contributed to the supervision and validation, conceptualization, and review and editing of the manuscript. Both authors approved the final manuscript.
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Nature Cities thanks Siddharth Agarwal and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
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Sarkar, A., Jana, A. Exploring the limits of energy use in urban poor communities. Nat Cities 2, 117–119 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-024-00196-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44284-024-00196-5
