Tracking geographies of sustainability transitions: Relational and territorial aspects of urban policies in Casablanca and Cape Town
Highlights
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- Cities in the Global South have to find cleaner energy resources in the future.
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- The notion ‘varieties of glocalisation’ links global, national and urban scales.
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- Casablanca and Cape Town show how cities can support a renewables industry.
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- The ‘green-driven growth triangle’ offers a new framework for future research.
Abstract
Many
countries in the Global South work on greater sustainability.
Transition and economic geography scholars are well-positioned to
contribute to a better understanding of these processes and their
underlying dynamics. However, there is a lack of attention to the role
of the city. In this article I apply a ’varieties of glocalisation’ lens
to explain the interplay between national, urban and global
developments in the context of sustainability transitions. This article
presents empirical data from Morocco and South-Africa about current
renewable energy ambitions. These cases illustrate the cities’
differences; while Cape Town was able to foster economic development in
the slipstream of national policies, Casablanca’s renewable energy
sector is less developed. The green-driven growth triangle is then
presented as a new analytical framework for future research on
geographies of sustainability transitions.
Keywords
- Geographies of sustainability transitions;
- Green-driven growth;
- Renewable energy;
- Varieties of glocalisation;
- Casablanca;
- Cape Town
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