PLANNING FOR JUST ENERGY TRANSITION

Organizers

Laura Grassini, Polytechnic University of Bari
Enza Lissandrello, Aalborg University

Presenters

Laura Grassini, Polytechnic University of Bari
Lena Verlooy, Ghent University
Pia Laborgne, Karlsruhe Institute for Technology
Katarzyna Piskorek, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology
Dieter Bruggeman, Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Tijana Dabovic, University of Serbia
Enza Lissandrello, Aalborg University

Cities and urban areas play a crucial role in the energy transition as significant contributors to the ongoing climate crisis, while also serving as essential hubs for human capital and financial resources.

In numerous countries globally, mainstream policies and contemporary research frequently simplify energy transition by highlighting technocratic and market-oriented approaches to decarbonisation. Scholarly investigations often concentrate on modeling energy balances, developing renewable energy technologies, enhancing energy efficiency, and fostering consumer engagement. However, energy transition discussions seldom focus on planning perspectives, resulting in a limited understanding of urban dynamics and the interaction among key agents involved in sustainable transformation processes.

This session aims to address the limitations of current research on energy transition by exploring the complexities involved in urban processes and the socio-spatial inequalities produced in different contexts. It seeks to investigate the planning processes and the role of planning professionals in facilitating equitable energy transitions, incorporating a human-centred approach and a perspective of spatial justice into the ongoing discussions about the energy transition.

The session addresses the following questions, although additional inquiries are also welcome:

- What are the implications of the energy transition for disadvantaged communities and neighbourhoods? 

- How does the current energy transition intersect with emerging forms of green gentrification, exclusionary dynamics and energy poverty? 

- How critical is it to understand planning for just energy transition under the lens of spatial justice? 

- In what ways can different forms of energy justice—distributional, representational, and procedural—be challenged by planning processes? 

This session seeks to establish diverse theoretical perspectives and methodological traditions, focusing on the intersections of planning, political science, sociology, geography, and innovation studies on just energy transition in several geographical contexts. Theoretical papers critically assess the challenges associated with achieving a just energy transition, and empirical studies examine the complexities and contradictions of sustainable transitions across urban and regional contexts, both in the global North and South.

Key words: urban regeneration, community engagement, innovation communities, everyday energy practices, local communities’ resistance, planners’ reflexivity and practical wisdom