Print Email Facebook Twitter A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of sustainability transitions in urban basic infrastructure services Title A corpus-assisted discourse analysis of sustainability transitions in urban basic infrastructure services Author Oates, L.E. (TU Delft Urban Development Management) Edwards, Alison Ersoy, A. (TU Delft Urban Development Management) van Bueren, Ellen (TU Delft Management in the Built Environment) Department Management in the Built Environment Date 2022 Abstract Basic infrastructure services – water and sanitation, waste collection and management, transport, energy, and housing – form the foundation upon which cities are built. Sustainable and equitable provision of services is key to combating climate change, eradicating poverty and meeting targets set out in international sustainability agendas. However, even as the language of the sustainability transitions literature is being appropriated by governments, social movements and practitioners, the concepts of sustainability and sustainability transitions remain ill-defined and often narrowly applied. We conduct a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of the sustainability transitions literature on urban basic infrastructure services to tap into prevailing representations and conceptions. Findings show that the delivery of sustainable urban services is discursively framed as a predominantly institutional and economic challenge, favouring a top-down techno-managerial approach to transitions that applies technical fixes to environmental problems at the expense of social dimensions of sustainability. While some studies, such as those with a focus on the Global South and/or water and sanitation services, engage to a greater degree with issues such as justice and equality, they still tend towards technical and economic solutions. An integrated approach encompassing all dimensions of sustainability and a broader understanding of infrastructure services not as separate, single-purpose technologies but as part of interconnected systems with multiple social, economic and environmental objectives is needed if we are to transition to a more sustainable urban future. Subject Urban basic infrastructure servicesurban service deliverysustainability transitioncorpus-based discourse analysisframe analysis To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:82d0a58f-df64-4162-b47e-e1c5343c0102 DOI https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6965763 ISSN 1650-9544 Source European Journal of Spatial Development, 19 (4), 44-71 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2022 L.E. Oates, Alison Edwards, A. Ersoy, Ellen van Bueren Files PDF EJSD_2022_19_4_Oates_et_al.pdf 1.4 MB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:82d0a58f-df64-4162-b47e-e1c5343c0102/datastream/OBJ/view