Sustainable regeneration: A guiding vision towards low-carbon transition?

Hunt, Miriam; De Laurentis, Carla

Abstract

While the concept of sustainable development brings together concepts of economic, environmental and social sustainability, much has been said regarding inherent tensions between them. Conflicts between economic and environmental objectives, in particular, have been noted as restraining efforts to instigate transitions to environmental sustainability, with growth ambitions limiting environmental policy to "win-win" cases. This paper argues that they can also play complementary roles in managing transitions by creating inclusive visions for rallying actors and resources. This is explored by looking at a case of sustainable regeneration in Wales, UK. Using as a case study the Arbed scheme, an area-based project established in 2009 to retrofit housing stock for energy efficiency, this paper shows how the scheme explicitly addresses economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability; and, in particular, how sustainable development aims constituted a guiding vision that supported the formation of actor and resource networks necessary for large-scale retrofitting.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 4, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Mar 31, 2014
• Publication Date: Sep 2, 2015
• Deposit Date: Jul 18, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 19, 2022
• Journal: Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability
• Print ISSN: 1354-9839
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-6711
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 1081-1102
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2014.894964
• Keywords: Sustainable regeneration; low-carbon transition; sustainability transition; visions; sustainable regeneration; energy efficiency
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9642491
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2014.894964