Abstract
ABSTRACTIn the past decade, district heat networks have emerged as a key strategy for the UK government to achieve its 2050 decarbonization targets. Reports and analyses have focused on the technical and economic challenges of introducing networked heat provision in a country where this is a relatively novel energy service. Meanwhile, there has been little emphasis on the spatial and physical aspects of heat provision and their influence on the spatial development of cities. In this paper, we contribute to current debates on urban energy transitions with insights on the implications of heat networks to cities including scale, density, mixed-use, and materiality. The study reveals the embeddedness of energy services and the emergence of new forms of local governance that combine spatial and energy planning to realize new urban energy landscapes.
Highlights
Heat and hot water for buildings comprises 40 percent of the United Kingdom’s energy consumption and 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (Committee on Climate Change [CCC], 2016)
Our research shows that these characteristics comprise an indelibly urban form of energy service that are closely aligned with spatial planning and have important implications for local governance
The emphasis on heat networks as a decarbonization strategy by the UK government provides a vivid example of how energy services are spatially constituted
Summary
Heat and hot water for buildings comprises 40 percent of the United Kingdom’s energy consumption and 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (Committee on Climate Change [CCC], 2016). When studying low-carbon transitions, the landscape perspective draws our gaze to the spatial form of cities, settlement densities, the design of buildings, the use of materials, and the lock-in of existing infrastructure networks (Lovell, 2007; Bulkeley et al, 2011; Hodson and Marvin, 2011; Bridge et al, 2013; Calvert, 2015; Guy et al, 2016; Castán Broto, 2017) This embedded and relational understanding of energy networks “opens up a range of novel and productive ways of thinking about how the urban comes to have the structure and consistency that it does” (Latham and McCormack, 2004: 709). This suggests that transitions of urban energy landscapes are not dictated by the UK government and implemented at the local and regional level but rather involve an interactive and relational mode of steering socio-technical change (Hawkey, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
