Are peripheral regions in troubled waters for sustainability transitions? A systematic analysis of the literature

Abstract

While the role of cities and regions is increasingly acknowledged for climate action and discussed in the literature on sustainability transitions, the specific condition of peripheral regions has received less attention. This article develops a bibliometric review to shed light and discuss how the (multi-dimensional) notion of periphery has been conceived and implicitly declinate in different literature streams studying low-carbon sustainability transitions at the sub-national level. While the studies explicitly addressing the issues of peripherality are still scarce, the article identifies four critical dimensions that contribute to frame structural bottlenecks and opportunities: socio-spatial unevenness, asset fragility, network positionality and agency and the multi-scalar embeddedness of transition policies. At the interface of urban and regional studies and sustainability transitions’ research, these dimensions open up new research challenges and trading zones ahead for peripheral regions on navigating troubled waters of sustainability transitions.

A world-leading periphery: exploring representations of Northern Sweden in view of its green transition

“…Within the broader field of research related to Norrland and/or the green transition, indications of arising issues can be found. Generally, the literature on climate action and green innovation tends to be mainly related to cities, whereas conditions of more peripheral areas, such as Norrland, rarely receive attention (Vale et al 2023) despite calls for contextualized regional analyses (Grillitsch & Hansen 2019). Some research examining future pathways and regional linkages or effects of initiatives linked to the current green transition has been conducted by several scholars (see Karakaya et al 2018, Olofsson 2019, Andersen et al 2022, mainly focusing on industry capacity and possibilities in Northern Sweden.…”

Ecology, economy and climate crisis in European urban and regional development

“…Trippl et al (2024) develop the concept of ‘transformative resilience’ to explore how regions can develop more sustainable pathways into the future. Vale et al (2024) provide a systematic literature analysis to address the question as to how peripheral regions face particular sustainability transition challenges. Afeltowicz et al (2024) examine processes of ‘entrepreneurial action’ in the formation of more sustainable local energy clusters.…”