The ‘capability’ of South African energy governance to deliver urban sustainable transitions

Essex, Stephen; Caprotti, Federico; de Groot, Jiska; Phillips, Jon; Baker, Lucy; Wolpe, Peta; Reddy, Yachika

Abstract

Critical to the trajectory and outcome of urban sustainable energy transitions is the ability of government institutions to foster conditions for change and innovation. In this paper, a theoretical perspective combining state power and local governance capability is used as a lens to examine the transition of the energy system in South Africa based on semi-structured interviews with a range of relevant stakeholders, supplemented by analysis of published academic and policy literature. The discussion highlights uneven transitional pathways across the country caused by variations in ‘capability’, together with continuing conflicting interests within the system which require more politically-informed policy processes.

Citation

Essex, S., Caprotti, F., de Groot, J., Phillips, J., Baker, L., Wolpe, P., & Reddy, Y. (2024). The ‘capability’ of South African energy governance to deliver urban sustainable transitions. Urban Research & Practice, 14(4), 515-542. https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2023.2261899

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 21, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Sep 28, 2023
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Sep 29, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 29, 2023
• Journal: Urban Research and Practice
• Print ISSN: 1753-5069
• Electronic ISSN: 1753-5077
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 515-542
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17535069.2023.2261899
• Keywords: Urban sustainable energy transitions; governance; South Africa; institutional capability; political power
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17535069.2023.2261899
• Additional Information: Data Access Statement : Transcripts of the interviews have been lodged with the Economic and Social Research Council Data Archive at the University of Essex: Caprotti, F. & Phillips, J. (2020). Urban transformation in South Africa through co-designing energy services provision pathways 2016–2019. [data collection]. UK Data Service. SN: 853812, http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-853812.