Accelerating the transition to low-carbon cities: Strategies for scaling-up local initiatives

Abstract

As centres of energy consumption and innovation, cities can play an important role in combatting climate change. In cities worldwide, low-carbon initiatives are realized by pioneers that demonstrate that climate mitigation can be reconciled with urban development needs. Examples incude the creation of eco-district or large-scale retrofitting of building blocks. In particular initiatives that focus on energy conservation in the built environment can greatly contribute to the decarbonization of cities, as the building stock is responsible for approximately 40% of energy consumption and corresponding GHG emissions. While scholars and practitioners reflect on the need to scale-up such initiatives in order to accomplish low-carbon societal change, it is unclear how such processes can be governed. This dissertation offers theoretical guidance and practical instructions to scholars and practitioners that can be used to promote the scaling-up of local initiatives, thereby accelerating the transition to low-carbon cities.