Smart grid, Smart rules or Smart context?: A comparative case study of smart grid implementation in three (experimental) community energy projects

The Paris Agreement seeks to limit global temperature rise and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. The UN's Sustainable Development Goal 7 emphasizes sustainable energy access, with smart grids playing a crucial role. These grids adapt to user behavior and interconnect various components. While smart grids address challenges in integrating...

African power pools and regional electricity market design: Taking stock of regional integration in energy sectors

While the traditional perspective on regional power pools is that of regional electricity markets, regional power pools in Africa are development tools with unrepresentative and under-researched dynamics in their evolution and market design. Five African power pools are under development to bring the continent into a single electricity market....

Analysing the implementation of geothermal energy in urban areas in the Netherlands: A comparative case study

The Dutch government has set an ambitious goal: by 2030, greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands should be 49% lower than they were in 1990.But even though geothermal energy is gaining recognition given the high heating demand in the Netherlands and its subsurface potential, implementation of this technology, especially in urban areas, is...

Understanding the geopolitical implications of a transition to green hydrogen as the dominant energy carrier

The effects of climate change on the global community are becoming more strongly felt every year, creating devastation on our everyday lives. To combat that, a transition to low-carbon energy carriers is being envisioned by state and private actors through pledges during climate conferences and several candidate carriers are proposed. Among...

Rehabilitation of Mass Housing as a Contribution to Social Equality: Insights from the East-West European Academic Dialogue

Mass housing neighbourhoods (MHN) represent the leading pattern of urban transformation and expansion in the second half of the 20th century, and accordingly evaluation, regeneration and redesign of the MHN represent a necessary and challenging task in the contemporary research context. In the practical scope of MHN rehabilitation, various...

Towards circularity in European countries and Indonesia: A comparative case study of the implementation of circularity and innovation in European countries and Indonesia

Background, issues, and main research questions: Circularity (circular economy) is being developed in many countries around the world where it has been set as a development goal (Schröder et al, 2019). However, the progress in implementing circularity varies from country to country. Most of the countries that are leading in...

Electricity Market Design for African Power Pools: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead

The situation of power system reforms in Africa displays incomplete reform steps and unfulfilled goals. The performance statistics of the power system are very low and tremendous efforts remain to be exerted to bridge the gap. Reforms in Africa were pursued with the end goal of creating an electricity market on both the national and the regional...

Stimulating inner city transformations: The use of revolving funds in inner city development

Context – Within the Netherlands, an urgent mismatch between supply and demand in the residential sector results in adverse effects such as high house prices and reduced affordability. This mismatch is anticipated to grow further due to an increasing number of households (between 300,000 and 1,000,000 until 2040) and the many barriers in the...

Comparative case study of the construction and demolition waste practical treatment induced by different legislations in France and Belgium (Wallonia and Flanders)

A comparative case study of the current legislation and state of the art of practical procedures and methodologies used for the treatment of Construction and Demolition Waste (CDW) between France and Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia) will be presented in the framework of the project VALDEM (Interreg Va France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen Convention n°1.1...

Urban experimentation and institutional arrangements

Currently little is known about how institutional arrangements co-evolve with urban experimentation. This paper mobilizes neo-institutional literature and recent urban experimentation literature as a framework to explore how and why institutional arrangements differ across urban contexts. Empirically the paper focusses on smart city...

Property Developers' Engagement in Adapting Urban Waterfronts to the Changing Climate

The climate is changing and the rising temperatures are causing the polar ice to melt, combined with more and intense rain low-lying waterfronts are becoming vulnerable for flooding. Two urban waterfronts have been selected for the study: Frihamnen in Gothenburg and Stadswerven in Dordrecht. The two waterfronts have to be adapted to be able to...

Flood Resiliency in Urban Area Development

How can we make our cities more sustainable? And in particular, how to build the resiliency of urban environments to the effects of climate change and increased urbanization? This is one of the main challenges that urban planners are dealing with today. The relevance of this issue is reflected in the large number of cities around the globe that...