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SC7A1 is a cosmid with an insert of chromosomal DNA from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Its insertion into

Sustainability transitions in cities in emerging economic contexts are rarely addressed. The paper addresses this issue by investigating the drivers and barriers in the diffusion of solar thermal energy in two Chinese cities, Dezhou and Beijing. The findings suggest that latecomer cities such as Dezhou demonstrate several advantages over developed cities in environmental transitions. In particular they can 'leapfrog' to environmentally-friendly technologies as they are less locked-in by existing technological regimes. The paper thus contributes to debates over the role of both space and the urban scale in sustainability transitions research.

This paper aims to understand the role of green entrepreneurs in urban sustainability transitions. We propose an analytical framework combining transition approaches and green entrepreneurship from a relational lens. It includes four processes: emergence of green entrepreneurs, multi-scalar interest coordination, empowering through anchoring, and struggling with the regime at the urban scale. This framework is illustrated through an empirical analysis of the role of green entrepreneurs in the development of the solar water heater industry in China’s Solar City. The analysis unravels how the local institutional contexts and multi-scalar relations empowered local green entrepreneurs to become system builders for urban transitions.

The literature on catch-up cycles has not yet systematically conceptualized how catch-up dynamics differ between the various industries that are emerging in the green techno-economic paradigm. We address this gap by connecting catch-up cycle theory with an industry typology from global innovation systems (GISs) literature, which distinguishes four generic industry types with footloose, spatially sticky, market-, and production-anchored innovation system characteristics. Catch-up patterns in early industry lifecycle stages are expected to systematically differ between these four industry types. This assumption is explored based on a comparative case study of the solar photovoltaics, wind power, solar water heaters, and membrane bioreactors industries, each of which exemplifies one of the four generic GIS configurations. We find that the speed and disruptiveness of early leadership changes differ significantly between the four industries, and that the effectiveness of capability upgrading strategies and catching-up policies are contingent on the innovation and valuation characteristics of each industry’s underlying GIS type.