[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v166y2022ics0301421522002270.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beyond automobility? Lock-in of past failures in low-carbon urban mobility innovations

Author

Listed:
  • Haarstad, Håvard
  • Sareen, Siddharth
  • Kandt, Jens
  • Coenen, Lars
  • Cook, Matthew
Abstract
Automobility, including the infrastructures, technologies and institutions that created high dependence on private car use, has led to significant environmental and climate problems and notably high carbon emissions. Now cities are attempting to move beyond this failed regime by experimenting with a range of different mobility innovations. In this paper, we examine whether emergent policy-led experiments and innovation processes in low-carbon mobility are learning from the past, or whether they are reproducing key elements of past policy failures. Through four case studies – Birmingham, Stavanger, Milton Keynes and Melbourne – we assess attempts to break out of high-carbon automobility through three key factors, namely diversification of travel options, a shift from individual to shared forms of mobility, and whether these aspects are implemented at scale. We find that while all cities show potential for diversification and sharing at scale, current modes of innovation exhibit features that may reproduce rather than reduce high-carbon automobility. Our analysis attributes this risk of continued failure to how policy-led experimentation and innovation are structured and themselves become locked in, thereby upholding the obdurate automobility regime.

Suggested Citation

  • Haarstad, Håvard & Sareen, Siddharth & Kandt, Jens & Coenen, Lars & Cook, Matthew, 2022. "Beyond automobility? Lock-in of past failures in low-carbon urban mobility innovations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:166:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522002270
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522002270
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.113002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kandt, Jens & Leak, Alistair, 2019. "Examining inclusive mobility through smartcard data: What shall we make of senior citizens' declining bus patronage in the West Midlands?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Edmondson, Duncan L. & Kern, Florian & Rogge, Karoline S., 2019. "The co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems: Towards a conceptual framework of policy mix feedback in sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    3. Smith, Adrian & Raven, Rob, 2012. "What is protective space? Reconsidering niches in transitions to sustainability," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1025-1036.
    4. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Axsen, Jonn, 2018. "Functional, symbolic and societal frames for automobility: Implications for sustainability transitions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 730-746.
    5. Arthur, W Brian, 1989. "Competing Technologies, Increasing Returns, and Lock-In by Historical Events," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 99(394), pages 116-131, March.
    6. Jared R. VandeWeghe & Christopher Kennedy, 2007. "A Spatial Analysis of Residential Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 11(2), pages 133-144, April.
    7. Geels, Frank W., 2004. "From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: Insights about dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6-7), pages 897-920, September.
    8. Scheiner, Joachim, 2018. "Transport costs seen through the lens of residential self-selection and mobility biographies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 126-136.
    9. Jens Kandt & Philipp Rode & Christian Hoffmann & Andreas Graff & Duncan Smith, 2015. "Gauging interventions for sustainable travel: a comparative study of travel attitudes in Berlin and London," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63872, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Gössling, Stefan & Cohen, Scott, 2014. "Why sustainable transport policies will fail: EU climate policy in the light of transport taboos," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 197-207.
    11. Van Acker, Veronique & Mokhtarian, Patricia L. & Witlox, Frank, 2014. "Car availability explained by the structural relationships between lifestyles, residential location, and underlying residential and travel attitudes," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 88-99.
    12. Ansell, Christopher K. & Bartenberger, Martin, 2016. "Varieties of experimentalism," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 64-73.
    13. Kandt, Jens & Rode, Philipp & Hoffmann, Christian & Graff, Andreas & Smith, Duncan, 2015. "Gauging interventions for sustainable travel: A comparative study of travel attitudes in Berlin and London," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 35-48.
    14. Sokołowski, Maciej M. & Heffron, Raphael J., 2022. "Defining and conceptualising energy policy failure: The when, where, why, and how," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    15. Haarstad, Håvard & Wathne, Marikken W., 2019. "Are smart city projects catalyzing urban energy sustainability?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 918-925.
    16. Stewart Barr, 2018. "Personal mobility and climate change," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(5), September.
    17. Enoch, M.P. & Cross, R. & Potter, N. & Davidson, C. & Taylor, S. & Brown, R. & Huang, H. & Parsons, J. & Tucker, S. & Wynne, E. & Grieg, D. & Campbell, G. & Jackson, A. & Potter, S., 2020. "Future local passenger transport system scenarios and implications for policy and practice," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 52-67.
    18. Macário, Rosario & Marques, Carlos Filipe, 2008. "Transferability of sustainable urban mobility measures," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 146-156, January.
    19. Becker, Henrik & Balac, Milos & Ciari, Francesco & Axhausen, Kay W., 2020. "Assessing the welfare impacts of Shared Mobility and Mobility as a Service (MaaS)," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 228-243.
    20. Merkert, Rico & Bushell, James & Beck, Matthew J., 2020. "Collaboration as a service (CaaS) to fully integrate public transportation – Lessons from long distance travel to reimagine mobility as a service," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 267-282.
    21. Pangbourne, Kate & Mladenović, Miloš N. & Stead, Dominic & Milakis, Dimitris, 2020. "Questioning mobility as a service: Unanticipated implications for society and governance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 35-49.
    22. Banister, David, 2008. "The sustainable mobility paradigm," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 73-80, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Olin, Janne J. & Mladenović, Miloš N., 2024. "Unpacking the cultural aspects of transport automation governance in Finland: An interview study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    2. HÃ¥vard Haarstad & Rafael Rosales & Subina Shrestha, 2024. "Freight logistics and the city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(1), pages 3-19, January.
    3. Grillitsch, Markus & Coenen, Lars & Morgan, Kevin, 2023. "Directionality and Subsidiarity: A Regional Policy for People and Planet," Papers in Innovation Studies 2023/1, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    4. Heffron, Raphael J. & Sokołowski, Maciej M., 2024. "Resolving energy policy failure: Introducing energy justice as the solution to achieve a just transition," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jens Schippl & Annika Arnold, 2020. "Stakeholders’ Views on Multimodal Urban Mobility Futures: A Matter of Policy Interventions or Just the Logical Result of Digitalization?," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-16, April.
    2. Ruhrort, Lisa, 2020. "Reassessing the Role of Shared Mobility Services in a Transport Transition: Can They Contribute the Rise of an Alternative Socio-Technical Regime of Mobility?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 12(19), pages 1-1.
    3. Geels, Frank W. & Ayoub, Martina, 2023. "A socio-technical transition perspective on positive tipping points in climate change mitigation: Analysing seven interacting feedback loops in offshore wind and electric vehicles acceleration," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    4. Frans Sengers & Bruno Turnheim & Frans Berkhout, 2021. "Beyond experiments: Embedding outcomes in climate governance," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 39(6), pages 1148-1171, September.
    5. Moradi, Afsaneh & Vagnoni, Emidia, 2018. "A multi-level perspective analysis of urban mobility system dynamics: What are the future transition pathways?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 231-243.
    6. João Valsecchi Ribeiro de Souza & Adriana Marotti de Mello & Roberto Marx, 2019. "When Is an Innovative Urban Mobility Business Model Sustainable? A Literature Review and Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, March.
    7. Weigelt, Carmen & Lu, Shaohua & Verhaal, J. Cameron, 2021. "Blinded by the sun: The role of prosumers as niche actors in incumbent firms’ adoption of solar power during sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    8. Sweet, Matthias N. & Scott, Darren M., 2021. "Shared mobility adoption from 2016 to 2018 in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area: Demographic or geographic diffusion?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    9. Silm, Siiri & Tominga, Ago & Saidla, Karl & Poom, Age & Tammaru, Tiit, 2024. "Socio-economic and residential differences in urban modality styles based on a long-term smartphone experiment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    10. Sorrell, Steve, 2015. "Reducing energy demand: A review of issues, challenges and approaches," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 74-82.
    11. Berggren, Christian & Magnusson, Thomas & Sushandoyo, Dedy, 2015. "Transition pathways revisited: Established firms as multi-level actors in the heavy vehicle industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(5), pages 1017-1028.
    12. Timmer, Sebastian & Merfeld, Katrin & Henkel, Sven, 2023. "Exploring motivations for multimodal commuting: A hierarchical means-end chain analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    13. Haddad, Carolina R. & Bergek, Anna, 2023. "Towards an integrated framework for evaluating transformative innovation policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    14. Geddes, Anna & Schmidt, Tobias S., 2020. "Integrating finance into the multi-level perspective: Technology niche-finance regime interactions and financial policy interventions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(6).
    15. Hilde Nykamp, 2020. "Policy Mix for a Transition to Sustainability: Green Buildings in Norway," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-17, January.
    16. Kivimaa, Paula & Rogge, Karoline S., 2022. "Interplay of policy experimentation and institutional change in sustainability transitions: The case of mobility as a service in Finland," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    17. Lisa Ruhrort, 2020. "Reassessing the Role of Shared Mobility Services in a Transport Transition: Can They Contribute the Rise of an Alternative Socio-Technical Regime of Mobility?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-24, October.
    18. Geng, Jichao & Long, Ruyin & Chen, Hong & Li, Wenbo, 2017. "Exploring the motivation-behavior gap in urban residents’ green travel behavior: A theoretical and empirical study," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 282-292.
    19. Thomas Magnusson & Viktor Werner, 2023. "Conceptualisations of incumbent firms in sustainability transitions: Insights from organisation theory and a systematic literature review," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 903-919, February.
    20. Liu, Jianing & Wen, Xiao & Jian, Sisi, 2024. "Toward better equity: Analyzing travel patterns through a neural network approach in mobility-as-a-service," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 110-126.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:166:y:2022:i:c:s0301421522002270. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.