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The mutual construction of urban retrofit and scale: Governing ON, IN and WITH in Greater Manchester1

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  • Mike Hodson
  • Simon Marvin

Abstract

In this article, we focus on the mutually interrelated processes of constructing urban retrofit and the city-region as a scale for action. Urban retrofitting – the systematic reconfiguration of socio-technologies of energy in the existing built environment and infrastructure – is critical to the achievement of ambitious carbon reduction targets. To realise the ecological and economic benefits of retrofit cities are continually searching for a ‘fix’ that allows them to upscale retrofit from a largely ad hoc and piecemeal activity of repair and maintenance into strategic and systemic retrofit programmes that transform existing cities. This article is primarily concerned with understanding the politics and purpose of such experimentation and analyses efforts to integrate retrofit and governing in Greater Manchester. To do this, the article draws on a programme of interviews with national, city-regional, local authority and neighbourhood scale actors, documentary analysis and observations. We address on who is constructing retrofit responses in Greater Manchester and also why they are being constructed: Is it to transform the city-region and, if so, in what ways? And ask, in what ways are governance frameworks mediating and interpreting wider sets of global pressures at city-regional scale and which of these – economic, ecological, governing, social justice, etc. – pressures are more and less prioritised? We set out dominant city-regional responses (ON), alternative responses (IN) and assess the possibilities for integrated responses (WITH).

Suggested Citation

  • Mike Hodson & Simon Marvin, 2017. "The mutual construction of urban retrofit and scale: Governing ON, IN and WITH in Greater Manchester1," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 35(7), pages 1198-1217, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:envirc:v:35:y:2017:i:7:p:1198-1217
    DOI: 10.1177/0263774X15625993
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brenner, Neil, 2004. "New State Spaces: Urban Governance and the Rescaling of Statehood," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199270064.
    2. Geels, Frank W. & Penna, Caetano C.R., 2015. "Societal problems and industry reorientation: Elaborating the Dialectic Issue LifeCycle (DILC) model and a case study of car safety in the USA (1900–1995)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 67-82.
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    4. Hodson, Mike & Marvin, Simon, 2010. "Can cities shape socio-technical transitions and how would we know if they were?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 477-485, May.
    5. Simon Joss & Arthur P. Molella, 2013. "The Eco-City as Urban Technology: Perspectives on Caofeidian International Eco-City (China)," Journal of Urban Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(1), pages 115-137, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rydin, Yvonne & Turcu, Catalina, 2019. "Revisiting urban energy initiatives in the UK: Declining local capacity in a shifting policy context," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 653-660.

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