The divergent diffusion of district energy systems in France and Alberta: state politics and the socio-material and socio-spatial construction of low-carbon transitions

Nciri, Aïda  Shéhérazade

The divergent diffusion of district energy systems in France and Alberta: state politics and the socio-material and socio-spatial construction of low-carbon transitions

dc.contributor.advisor	Miller, Byron
dc.contributor.advisor	Coutard, Olivier
dc.contributor.author	Nciri, Aïda Shéhérazade
dc.contributor.committeemember	Keough, Noel
dc.contributor.committeemember	Rutherford, Jonathan
dc.date	2019-06
dc.date.accessioned	2019-01-24T15:56:42Z
dc.date.available	2019-01-24T15:56:42Z
dc.date.issued	2018-12-20
dc.description.abstract	How do different state structures and urban and energy socio-material contexts explain the uneven diffusion of district energy systems (DES) in urban areas of France and Alberta between 2000 and 2014? To answer this question, this thesis analyses the processes inherent to low-carbon energy transitions through socio-spatial and socio-material lenses, considering power relations and state structure. At the intersection of urban planning and energy systems, DES proves practical to explore the nexus between low-carbon governance, energy governance, and urban governance. Theoretical frameworks employed in the analysis include 1) recent contributions from (urban) transition studies and socio-technical systems; 2) a Lefebvrian conceptualisation of socio-space and social changes; and 3) Jessop’s (1990, 2008) strategic-relational approach of state power. An original inter-scale comparative research allows for examining the uneven construction of low-carbon energy policies in France and Alberta, and their relations with state structures, and existing urban and energy systems. Jessop et al.’s Territory-Place-Scale-Network (TPSN) framework is mobilised to overcome the issues of commensurability and spontaneous comparison. These theoretical and methodological approaches provide a robust demonstration that the provincial scale in Canada, and the national scale in France, are the scales dominating the construction of low-carbon energy transitions and urban governance. Despite similar state powers, French and Albertan governments developed different state policies on low-carbon transition, highlighting selectivity in the exercise of state capacities. They differently engaged and enabled local urban governments and developed different state interventions on DES. In France, state-sponsored DES activated new channels of growth compatible with existing dominant socio-materialities; in Alberta, state-funded DES experiments failed to activate new channels of growth compatible with dominant socio-materialities. This thesis posits that selective construction of low-carbon policies depends on the material interests of dominant energy and state actors. In other words, the state does not seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by all means. Rather, it seeks to reproduce dominant socio-material status quo, adapting low-carbon policies to existing socio-material configuration. Ultimately, this thesis validates how the concepts of state structure and the TPSN framework can enrich the theorisation of space and power relations for (urban) transition studies.	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Nciri, A. S. (2018). The divergent diffusion of district energy systems in France and Alberta: state politics and the socio-material and socio-spatial construction of low-carbon transitions (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.	en_US
dc.identifier.doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/35762
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/1880/109503
dc.language.iso	en	en_US
dc.publisher.faculty	Arts	en_US
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary	en
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Economics	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Geography	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Political Science	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Urban and Regional Planning	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Energy	en_US
dc.title	The divergent diffusion of district energy systems in France and Alberta: state politics and the socio-material and socio-spatial construction of low-carbon transitions	en_US
dc.type	doctoral thesis	en_US
thesis.degree.discipline	Geography	en_US
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary	en_US
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)	en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopy	true