Network governance in low-carbon energy transitions in European cities: A comparative analysis

Timea Nochta and Chris Skelcher

Energy Policy, 2020, vol. 138, issue C

Abstract: This article evaluates the opportunities and limitations of network governance to support low-carbon energy transitions in European cities. Network visualization and statistical measures of network structure are combined with qualitative case study data to provide a comparative analysis of energy transition networks in Birmingham, Budapest and Frankfurt. Data reveal that existing networks differ in extent, integration and distribution of authority. Contextual characteristics help explain these differences, highlighting the importance of path dependencies and disjunctions in each city. These findings represent important considerations for the Transition Management model which aims specifically at governing sustainability transitions via network governance. Responding to a gap in the literature we demonstrate that Transition Management must be considered as an intervention into locationally specific settings and existing networks. The design of network structures and processes, as well as role of any ‘transition manager’, must reflect contextual factors and existing network considerations. Failure to account for contextual differences limits the model’s capacity to contribute to sustainable energy transitions in different cities.

Keywords: Urban governance; Network governance; Transition management; Energy transitions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421520300562
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:138:y:2020:i:c:s0301421520300562

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111298

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France

More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().