Guiding the renewable energy transition in developing countries : towards an integrated model of providing renewable energy in low income housing in Egypt
type: CreativeWork
description: This study investigates whether and how empowering urban low-income communities, through community renewable energy (RE) initiatives, can be a way to achieve a just RE transition that would address energy poverty in developing countries. Previous research has explored different ways of integrating RE into low-income housing to address energy poverty; however, the focus has largely been on developed countries and rural areas in developing countries. Less attention has been paid to residents of urban subsidised low-income housing (SLH) projects in the context of the developing world. This study addresses this gap by investigating the barriers and opportunities for achieving a just RE transition to address energy poverty in urban low-income housing in developing countries, by taking Egypt as a case study. The study builds on conceptualisations of (socio-technical) transition pathways of new innovations emerging in a niche space to develop a framework that explores the potential for the development of a community RE niche in developing countries. The study also outlines possible models of community RE initiatives in SLH projects that could be followed in Egypt. In the case-study of Egypt, the data were collected using a mixed methods design, including documentary research, household surveys, semi-structured interviews with national stakeholders and workshops within three case studies of new urban SLH projects. The findings suggest that Egypt is undergoing an RE transition led by large-scale technological niche development, while a civil society niche is yet to emerge within the energy domain. The findings show that socio-cultural and regulatory constraints, are the main barriers to the emergence of a community RE niche in Egypt. There is also evidence to show that residents of SLH projects suffer from energy poverty; however, residents are receptive to community RE initiatives. The study concludes that, in a developing context such as in Egypt, the government’s role nee…
abstract: This study investigates whether and how empowering urban low-income communities, through community renewable energy (RE) initiatives, can be a way to achieve a just RE transition that would address energy poverty in developing countries. Previous research has explored different ways of integrating RE into low-income housing to address energy poverty; however, the focus has largely been on developed countries and rural areas in developing countries. Less attention has been paid to residents of urban subsidised low-income housing (SLH) projects in the context of the developing world. This study addresses this gap by investigating the barriers and opportunities for achieving a just RE transition to address energy poverty in urban low-income housing in developing countries, by taking Egypt as a case study. The study builds on conceptualisations of (socio-technical) transition pathways of new innovations emerging in a niche space to develop a framework that explores the potential for the development of a community RE niche in developing countries. The study also outlines possible models of community RE initiatives in SLH projects that could be followed in Egypt. In the case-study of Egypt, the data were collected using a mixed methods design, including documentary research, household surveys, semi-structured interviews with national stakeholders and workshops within three case studies of new urban SLH projects. The findings suggest that Egypt is undergoing an RE transition led by large-scale technological niche development, while a civil society niche is yet to emerge within the energy domain. The findings show that socio-cultural and regulatory constraints, are the main barriers to the emergence of a community RE niche in Egypt. There is also evidence to show that residents of SLH projects suffer from energy poverty; however, residents are receptive to community RE initiatives. The study concludes that, in a developing context such as in Egypt, the government’s role nee…
author: Abdelbaki Mahmoud Abdelbaki Hamza, Sara
language: en
date published: 2020
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:42:28Z
provider: Oxford Brookes University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Oxford Brookes University

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.24384/gmmb-qa95