Urban energy transition

Abstract

This issue of the Network Industries Quarterly is dedicated to the governance of energy transition in urban energy infrastructures, by providing insights from different theoretical approaches as well as analyzing multiple case studies. In the first article, Castan Broto takes a complexity approach on sustainable transitions and analyzes urban energy landscapes as the assemblage of socio-technical interactions in the case of urban energy transition in Hong Kong. Florentin, Gabillet, Gomez in the second article investigate the role of local utilities as the understudied actors in urban energy transitions, by focusing on three case studies in Grenoble, Magdeburg and Medellin. In the third article, Euston-Brown and Ndlovu consider the dynamics of urban energy transition in Sub Saharan African cities, and highlight the importance of other factors rather than the technology itself, such as learning capacity and knowledge development. Finally, Ichonose in the last article explains the climate change problems in Tokyo, and addresses different measures and requirements for climate change mitigation and adaptation programs. We hope these contributions can draw your attention towards the importance of cities in the field of sustainable energy transitions, as the urban level is getting more interest in the transition research as an important level of analysis.