IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/urbstu/v51y2014i7p1471-1486.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Low-carbon Transitions and the Reconfiguration of Urban Infrastructure

Author

Listed:
  • Harriet Bulkeley
  • Vanesa Castán Broto
  • Anne Maassen

Abstract

Over the past decade, a growing body of research has examined the role of cities in addressing climate change and the institutional and political challenges which they encounter. For the most part, in these accounts, the infrastructure networks, their material fabric, everyday practices and political economies, have remained unexamined. In this paper, it is argued that this is a critical omission and an approach is developed for understanding how urban responses to climate change both configure and are configured by infrastructure networks. Central to any such analysis is the conception of how and why (urban) infrastructure networks undergo change. Focusing on urban energy networks and on the case of London, the paper argues for an analysis of the ‘urban infrastructure regimes’ and ‘experiments’ through which climate change is governed. It is found that climate change experiments serve as a means through which dominant actors articulate and test new ‘low-carbon’ logics for urban infrastructure development. It is argued that experiments work by establishing new circuits, configuring actors in new sets of relations and through these means realising the potential for addressing climate change in the city. At the same time, experiments become sites of conflict, a means through which new forms of urban circulation can be confined and marginalised, leaving dominant energy regimes (relatively) intact.

Suggested Citation

  • Harriet Bulkeley & Vanesa Castán Broto & Anne Maassen, 2014. "Low-carbon Transitions and the Reconfiguration of Urban Infrastructure," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(7), pages 1471-1486, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:51:y:2014:i:7:p:1471-1486
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098013500089
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098013500089
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0042098013500089?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Erik Swyngedouw, 2009. "The Antinomies of the Postpolitical City: In Search of a Democratic Politics of Environmental Production," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 601-620, September.
    2. Mike Hodson & Simon Marvin, 2007. "Understanding the Role of the National Exemplar in Constructing ‘Strategic Glurbanization’," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 303-325, June.
    3. Geels, Frank W. & Schot, Johan, 2007. "Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 399-417, April.
    4. Matthew Gandy, 2004. "Rethinking urban metabolism: water, space and the modern city," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 363-379, December.
    5. Geels, Frank W., 2002. "Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 31(8-9), pages 1257-1274, December.
    6. Smith, Adrian & Stirling, Andy & Berkhout, Frans, 2005. "The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(10), pages 1491-1510, December.
    7. COLIN McFARLANE, 2008. "Governing the Contaminated City: Infrastructure and Sanitation in Colonial and Post‐Colonial Bombay," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 415-435, June.
    8. Geels, Frank W., 2004. "From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: Insights about dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6-7), pages 897-920, September.
    9. Geels, Frank W. & Kemp, René, 2007. "Dynamics in socio-technical systems: Typology of change processes and contrasting case studies," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 441-455.
    10. Smith, Adrian & Voß, Jan-Peter & Grin, John, 2010. "Innovation studies and sustainability transitions: The allure of the multi-level perspective and its challenges," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 435-448, May.
    11. Hoffmann, Matthew J., 2011. "Climate Governance at the Crossroads: Experimenting with a Global Response after Kyoto," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195390087.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Simone Strambach & Gesa Pflitsch, 2016. "Micro-dynamics in regional transition paths to sustainability - an analysis of organizational and institutional change in Augsburgs transition topology," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2016-03, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    2. Song, Qingbin & Li, Jinhui & Duan, Huabo & Yu, Danfeng & Wang, Zhishi, 2017. "Towards to sustainable energy-efficient city: A case study of Macau," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 504-514.
    3. Jens Koehrsen, 2017. "Boundary Bridging Arrangements: A Boundary Work Approach to Local Energy Transitions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Stefano Moroni & Valentina Antoniucci & Adriano Bisello, 2019. "Local Energy Communities and Distributed Generation: Contrasting Perspectives, and Inevitable Policy Trade-Offs, beyond the Apparent Global Consensus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, June.
    5. Håvard Haarstad & Stina Ellevseth Oseland, 2017. "Historicizing Urban Sustainability: The Shifting Ideals Behind Forus Industrial Park, Norway," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(5), pages 838-854, September.
    6. Behrsin, Ingrid & Benner, Chris, 2017. "Contested spaces and subjectivities of transit: Political ecology of a bus rapid transit development in Oakland, California," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 95-103.
    7. Karolina Isaksson & Satu Heikkinen, 2018. "Sustainability Transitions at the Frontline. Lock-in and Potential for Change in the Local Planning Arena," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-17, March.
    8. Bahers, Jean-Baptiste & Tanguy, Audrey & Pincetl, Stephanie, 2020. "Metabolic relationships between cities and hinterland: a political-industrial ecology of energy metabolism of Saint-Nazaire metropolitan and port area (France)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    9. Griet Juwet & Michael Ryckewaert, 2018. "Energy Transition in the Nebular City: Connecting Transition Thinking, Metabolism Studies, and Urban Design," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-20, March.
    10. Zhang, Lei & Qin, Quande & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2019. "China's distributed energy policies: Evolution, instruments and recommendation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 55-64.
    11. Christopher M. Chini & James F. Canning & Kelsey L. Schreiber & Joshua M. Peschel & Ashlynn S. Stillwell, 2017. "The Green Experiment: Cities, Green Stormwater Infrastructure, and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, January.
    12. Broto, Vanesa Castán, 2017. "Energy landscapes and urban trajectories towards sustainability," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 755-764.
    13. Castán Broto, Vanesa, 2017. "Urban Governance and the Politics of Climate change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 1-15.
    14. Jenny Pickerill, 2017. "Critically Interrogating Eco-Homes," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 353-365, March.
    15. Stephanie Pincetl & Mikhail Chester & David Eisenman, 2016. "Urban Heat Stress Vulnerability in the U.S. Southwest: The Role of Sociotechnical Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-13, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berggren, Christian & Magnusson, Thomas & Sushandoyo, Dedy, 2015. "Transition pathways revisited: Established firms as multi-level actors in the heavy vehicle industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1017-1028.
    2. James Evans & Andrew Karvonen, 2014. "‘Give Me a Laboratory and I Will Lower Your Carbon Footprint!’ — Urban Laboratories and the Governance of Low-Carbon Futures," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 413-430, March.
    3. Nesari, Mohammad & Naghizadeh, Mohammad & Ghazinoori, Soroush & Manteghi, Manoochehr, 2022. "The evolution of socio-technical transition studies: A scientometric analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Kejia Yang & Johan Schot & Bernhard Truffer, 2020. "Shaping the Directionality of Sustainability Transitions: The Diverging Development Patterns of Solar PV in Two Chinese Provinces," SPRU Working Paper Series 2020-14, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    5. Nilsson, Måns & Nykvist, Björn, 2016. "Governing the electric vehicle transition – Near term interventions to support a green energy economy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 1360-1371.
    6. Edsand, Hans, 2016. "Technological Innovation Systems and the wider context: A framework for developing countries," MERIT Working Papers 2016-017, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    7. Sorrell, Steve, 2018. "Explaining sociotechnical transitions: A critical realist perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1267-1282.
    8. Kvellheim, Ann Kristin, 2017. "The power of buildings in climate change mitigation: The case of Norway," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 653-661.
    9. Katherine A. Daniell & Jean-Daniel Rinaudo & Noel Chan & Céline Nauges & Quentin Grafton, 2015. "Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition," Post-Print hal-01183846, HAL.
    10. Fuenfschilling, Lea & Binz, Christian, 2017. "Global socio-technical regimes," Papers in Innovation Studies 2017/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    11. Sergent, Arnaud, 2014. "Sector-based political analysis of energy transition: Green shift in the forest policy regime in France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 491-500.
    12. Edsand, Hans-Erik, 2019. "Technological innovation system and the wider context: A framework for developing countries," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    13. Fuenfschilling, Lea & Truffer, Bernhard, 2016. "The interplay of institutions, actors and technologies in socio-technical systems — An analysis of transformations in the Australian urban water sector," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 298-312.
    14. Zhu, Bing & Nguyen, Mai & Sarm Siri, Nang & Malik, Ashish, 2022. "Towards a transformative model of circular economy for SMEs," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 545-555.
    15. Erlinghagen, Sabine & Markard, Jochen, 2012. "Smart grids and the transformation of the electricity sector: ICT firms as potential catalysts for sectoral change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 895-906.
    16. Katherine Daniell & Jean-Daniel Rinaudo & Noel Wai Wah Chan & Céline Nauges & Quentin Grafton, 2015. "Understanding and Managing Urban Water in Transition," Post-Print hal-01290502, HAL.
    17. Fuenfschilling, Lea & Binz, Christian, 2018. "Global socio-technical regimes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 735-749.
    18. Geels, Frank W., 2020. "Micro-foundations of the multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions: Developing a multi-dimensional model of agency through crossovers between social constructivism, evolutionary economics," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    19. Gabriella Doci & Eleftheria Vasileiadou & Arthur Petersen, 2014. "Exploring the transition potential of renewable energy communities," Working Papers 14-06, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies, revised Mar 2014.
    20. Alison Deviney & John Classen & Jackie Bruce & Mahmoud Sharara, 2020. "Sustainable Swine Manure Management: A Tale of Two Agreements," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-19, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:51:y:2014:i:7:p:1471-1486. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.gla.ac.uk/departments/urbanstudiesjournal .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.