Assessing change agency in urban experiments for sustainability transitions

Lukas Roebke; Markus Grillitsch; Lars Coenen

doi:10.1016/j.eist.2022.10.007

Assessing change agency in urban experiments for sustainability transitions

Lukas Roebke, Markus Grillitsch, Lars Coenen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Experimentation has become one of the prevailing modes of governing the transition toward sustainable practices in urban environments. The spatial variation of urban sustainability transition has been attributed to a variety of conditions erected at different spatial scales. What remains less well-understood is how spatial situatedness shapes agency in urban experiments and the shapes agency can take is a field that requires further research and frameworks. The paper addresses this gap by introducing a framework from the literature on regional development, identifying three distinct types of agency that shape regional development processes. Combining this framework with a process perspective on urban experiments, we develop an analytical framework, which allows for a more granular understanding of agency in urban sustainability transitions. The analytical framework is then brought to use in a case study of an urban experiment aiming to electrify public transport in Gothenburg, Sweden.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	214-227
Number of pages	14
Journal	Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
Volume	45
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2022.10.007
Publication status	Published - 2022 Dec

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The funding of ElectriCity can also be connected to place-based leadership. The project was mainly funded by VG, CoG, Chalmers University and Volvo ( N.A., 2016 ). For this purpose, Volvo was granted financial support from the Swedish Energy Agency ( Energimyndigheten, 2014 ). However, this funding benefited other participating parties as well such as the consultants who were initially co-funded by Volvo and CoG and later by Volvo alone (I5).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 13 Climate Action

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Human Geography
Other Social Sciences

Free keywords

Climate action
Human agency
Institutional change
Public transport
Urban experimentation
Urban governance

Access to Document

10.1016/j.eist.2022.10.007Licence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{2fa47bf999f74302960dc459ca1153b4,

title = "Assessing change agency in urban experiments for sustainability transitions",

abstract = "Experimentation has become one of the prevailing modes of governing the transition toward sustainable practices in urban environments. The spatial variation of urban sustainability transition has been attributed to a variety of conditions erected at different spatial scales. What remains less well-understood is how spatial situatedness shapes agency in urban experiments and the shapes agency can take is a field that requires further research and frameworks. The paper addresses this gap by introducing a framework from the literature on regional development, identifying three distinct types of agency that shape regional development processes. Combining this framework with a process perspective on urban experiments, we develop an analytical framework, which allows for a more granular understanding of agency in urban sustainability transitions. The analytical framework is then brought to use in a case study of an urban experiment aiming to electrify public transport in Gothenburg, Sweden.",

keywords = "Climate action, Human agency, Institutional change, Public transport, Urban experimentation, Urban governance",

author = "Lukas Roebke and Markus Grillitsch and Lars Coenen",

note = "Funding Information: The funding of ElectriCity can also be connected to place-based leadership. The project was mainly funded by VG, CoG, Chalmers University and Volvo ( N.A., 2016 ). For this purpose, Volvo was granted financial support from the Swedish Energy Agency ( Energimyndigheten, 2014 ). However, this funding benefited other participating parties as well such as the consultants who were initially co-funded by Volvo and CoG and later by Volvo alone (I5). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1016/j.eist.2022.10.007",

language = "English",

volume = "45",

pages = "214--227",

journal = "Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions",

issn = "2210-4224",

publisher = "Elsevier",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Assessing change agency in urban experiments for sustainability transitions

AU - Roebke, Lukas

AU - Grillitsch, Markus

AU - Coenen, Lars

N1 - Funding Information: The funding of ElectriCity can also be connected to place-based leadership. The project was mainly funded by VG, CoG, Chalmers University and Volvo ( N.A., 2016 ). For this purpose, Volvo was granted financial support from the Swedish Energy Agency ( Energimyndigheten, 2014 ). However, this funding benefited other participating parties as well such as the consultants who were initially co-funded by Volvo and CoG and later by Volvo alone (I5). Publisher Copyright: © 2022

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - Experimentation has become one of the prevailing modes of governing the transition toward sustainable practices in urban environments. The spatial variation of urban sustainability transition has been attributed to a variety of conditions erected at different spatial scales. What remains less well-understood is how spatial situatedness shapes agency in urban experiments and the shapes agency can take is a field that requires further research and frameworks. The paper addresses this gap by introducing a framework from the literature on regional development, identifying three distinct types of agency that shape regional development processes. Combining this framework with a process perspective on urban experiments, we develop an analytical framework, which allows for a more granular understanding of agency in urban sustainability transitions. The analytical framework is then brought to use in a case study of an urban experiment aiming to electrify public transport in Gothenburg, Sweden.

AB - Experimentation has become one of the prevailing modes of governing the transition toward sustainable practices in urban environments. The spatial variation of urban sustainability transition has been attributed to a variety of conditions erected at different spatial scales. What remains less well-understood is how spatial situatedness shapes agency in urban experiments and the shapes agency can take is a field that requires further research and frameworks. The paper addresses this gap by introducing a framework from the literature on regional development, identifying three distinct types of agency that shape regional development processes. Combining this framework with a process perspective on urban experiments, we develop an analytical framework, which allows for a more granular understanding of agency in urban sustainability transitions. The analytical framework is then brought to use in a case study of an urban experiment aiming to electrify public transport in Gothenburg, Sweden.

KW - Climate action

KW - Human agency

KW - Institutional change

KW - Public transport

KW - Urban experimentation

KW - Urban governance

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85141537060

U2 - 10.1016/j.eist.2022.10.007

DO - 10.1016/j.eist.2022.10.007

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85141537060

SN - 2210-4224

VL - 45

SP - 214

EP - 227

JO - Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions

JF - Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions

ER -

Assessing change agency in urban experiments for sustainability transitions

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

Subject classification (UKÄ)

Free keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this