Unravelling the role of green entrepreneurs in urban sustainability transitions: A case study of China’s Solar City

Zhen Yu,David Gibbs

doi:10.1177/0042098019888144

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the role of green entrepreneurs in urban sustainability transitions. We propose an analytical framework combining transition approaches and green entrepreneurship from a relational lens. It includes four processes: emergence of green entrepreneurs, multi-scalar interest coordination, empowering through anchoring, and struggling with the regime at the urban scale. This framework is illustrated through an empirical analysis of the role of green entrepreneurs in the development of the solar water heater industry in China’s Solar City. The analysis unravels how the local institutional contexts and multi-scalar relations empowered local green entrepreneurs to become system builders for urban transitions.

Highlights

Sustainability transitions is a burgeoning research field and political practice due to its focus on systemic and fundamental transformations towards more sustainable production and consumption (Markard et al 2012)
We develop an analytical framework combining transition approaches 4 and green entrepreneurship from a relational geography perspective, which places actors, actions, and the changes and developments resulting from their relations at the centre of analysis (Boggs & Rantisi 2003)
This paper responds to the recent call for interactions between human geography and transitions studies (Murphy, 2015; Hansen & Coenen, 2015)

Summary

Introduction

Sustainability transitions is a burgeoning research field and political practice due to its focus on systemic and fundamental transformations towards more sustainable production and consumption (Markard et al 2012). We believe this analytical framework could go beyond the two extremes of social structures in transitions research and ‘lone heroes’ in green entrepreneurial research respectively, and provide a more in-depth understanding about the contingent role of green entrepreneurs in urban transitions To illustrate this framework, this paper uses an empirical case study of solar water heater (SWH) diffusion in Dezhou, China.

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Discussion and conclusions

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