test
Search publications, data, projects and authors

Text

French

ID: <

hdl:/2441/1lceg9magk8rm88dfvil5vsv2p

>

Where these data come from
Energy, a new challenge for urban policies. Theoretical reflections from Beirut, Amman and Tunis

Abstract

The aim of this communication is to provide a summary of the lessons learned from research carried out in recent years in the three cities cited above. Traditionally built as an international policy issue focusing on the exchange of hydrocarbons, the issue of energy in the Southern Mediterranean countries is taking on new dimensions linked to sustainable development orders and the emergence of renewable energies. However, the main driver for the transformation of the sector remains very strong demand growth, particularly in cities, and significant price pressures. Climate change injunctions brought by international institutions are adding to existing tensions, resulting locally in shortages and price increases, as well as in mobilisations that focus primarily on these issues. Lebanon offers a dramatic example, linked to the legacy of the civil war ever overcome, so that power cuts reach 12-15 hours per day. But virtually no country on the southern shore is spared by such cuts, which may also affect gas. Protests against increases in electricity tariffs have been one for months in Jordan, and Egypt and Tunisia are experimenting with punctual shortages of bottle-gas that provoke anger. This social anger — and, more broadly, these pressures also felt by producers, for example — gives rise to various types of public policy, the new feature of which is the growing share claimed in their definition by urban institutions, in conjunction with various local economic actors and, of course, traditional players in the energy sector (government institutions, energy operators). Two main strands of these policies can be distinguished: institutional reorganisation marked by the spirit of the new public management, involving liberalisation and partial privatisation of the sector; the development of a new energy supply, such as the development of city gas (Cairo, major Tunisian cities), projects for the construction of nuclear power plants (controversial project in the vicinity of Amman in Jordan) or the development of renewable energy programmes. These new projects, with varying degrees and forms, involve local stakeholders and require urban challenges to be taken into account in their preparation and implementation. The context of the Arab revolts amplifies these transformations, in particular by allowing for the renewal of contemporary registers and public participation. This context also plays a secondary role: the requirement of democracy that supports these movements goes hand in hand with the affirmation, in certain contexts, of decentralisation and therefore of better consideration of the interests of various local actors. Some illustrations are given.

Your Feedback

Please give us your feedback and help us make GoTriple better.
Fill in our satisfaction questionnaire and tell us what you like about GoTriple!