Concluding Discussion – Input

Mike Hodson – SURF Centre, University of Salford, UK

Politics and Governance in Sustainable Socio-Technical Transitions –

Schloss Blankensee/Berlin, 19-21 September 2007

1. The role of cities and regions in system

innovations and transitions? • How currently viewed?

– Multiplicity of contexts – national, regional, cities, sectors, projects, practices

– Questions about the relationships between different scales and contexts of governance

• Asymmetrical power relations

– Where do cities and regions fit? As sites for ‘receiving’ transition initiatives but also as contexts for more purposive transition?

– Translating national priorities or developing city level priorities?• If the former – raises about translation of national priorities• If the latter – who shapes vision? ‘Connecting’ expertise and democracy at a

city scale?

– Role of cities and regions is uncertain, fragmented and often implicit

2. Why does this matter?• What if ‘societal problems’ are constructed at city and regional

scale? E.g.

– Cities as producers of GG emissions – 78%

– Cities as suffering the consequences of global warming

– Cities as providing novel socio-technical responses

• Addressing this…emerging agenda

– World cities developing targets that outstrip national government

– Aspirations for ‘self-sufficient’ infrastructures and withdrawal from national provision

– At the same time ‘by-passing’ national government and building networks with other world cities and MNCs

3. A different view on cities and regions

• Challenges in developing a notion of urban transitions

– Recognising the redistribution of responsibilities across scales

– New coalitions of social interests coalescing around cities and regions

– Particular places are privileged - understanding the differential capacity to act of cities and regions – place and agency

• As regimes?• As niches?• As systems?• As context for projects?

– Requires further conceptual and empirical work