The sociotechnical transitions framework describes how novel practice emerges from marginal “niche” contexts to the mainstream. Scholars of various fields have used sociotechnical transitions to explain processes of structural change for sustainability, yet little research examines the role of local plans or planners in transition processes. The author offers an in-depth case study following the evolution of an eco-cohousing model from its grassroots origins to its current application in the housing market of Ithaca, New York. Planners used existing planning documents to translate innovative practices to the public, defying assumptions of the rational-linear model still common in planning scholarship.
ArgyrisC.1976. “Single-Loop and Double-Loop Models in Research on Decision Making.” Administrative Science Quarterly21:363–75.
2.
AvelinoF.2009. “Empowerment and the Challenge of Applying Transition Management to Ongoing Projects.” Policy Sciences42 (4):369–90.
3.
BanfieldE. C.1959. “Ends and Means in Planning.” International Social Science Journal11 (3): 361.
4.
BassettE.ShandasV.2010. “Innovation and Climate Action Planning.” Journal of the American Planning Association76 (4): 435–50.
5.
BerkeP.GodschalkD.2009. “Searching for the Good Plan: A Meta-analysis of Plan Quality Studies.” Journal of Planning Literature23 (3): 227–40.
6.
BlackA.1990. “The Chicago Area Transportation Study: A Case Study of Rational Planning.” Journal of Planning Education and Research10 (1): 27–37.
7.
BoswellM. R.GreveA. I.SealeT. L.2010. “An Assessment of the Link between Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories and Climate Action Plans.” Journal of the American Planning Association76 (4): 451–62.
8.
CampbellS.1996. “Green Cities, Growing Cities, Just Cities? Urban Planning and the Contradictions of Sustainable Development.” Journal of the American Planning Association62 (3): 296–312.
9.
DaltonL. C.1986. “Why the Rational Paradigm Persists—The Resistance of Professional Education and Practice to Alternative Forms of Planning.” Journal of Planning Education and Research5 (3): 147–53.
10.
DawsonJ.2006. Ecovillages: New Frontiers for Sustainability. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green.
11.
DownsA.2005. “Smart Growth: Why We Discuss It More Than We Do It.” Journal of the American Planning Association71 (4): 367–78.
12.
FlyvbjergB.1998. Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13.
GeelsF. W.2002. “Technological Transitions as Evolutionary Reconfiguration Processes: A Multi-level Perspective and a Case-Study.” Research Policy31 (8–9): 1257–74.
14.
GeelsF. W.2004. “Processes and Patterns in Transitions and System Innovations: Refining the Co-evolutionary Multi-level Perspective.” Technological Forecasting & Social Change72:681–96.
15.
GeelsF. W.2005. “The Dynamics of Transitions in Socio-Technical Systems: A Multi-level Analysis of the Transition Pathway from Horse-Drawn Carriages to Automobiles (1860–1930).” Technology Analysis & Strategic Management17 (4): 445–76.
HodsonM.MarvinS.2010. “Can Cities Shape Socio-Technical Transitions and How Would We Know If They Were?” Research Policy39 (4): 477–85.
21.
HoldenM.2008. “Social Learning in Planning: Seattle’s Sustainable Development Codebooks.” Progress in Planning69 (1): 1–40.
22.
HopkinsL. D.2001. Urban Development: The Logic of Making Plans. Washington, DC: Island Press.
23.
HurleyP. T.WalkerP. A.2004. “Whose Vision? Conspiracy Theory and Land-Use Planning in Nevada County, California.” Environment and Planning A36 (9): 1529–47.
InnesJ. E.1998. “Information in Communicative Planning.” Journal of the American Planning Association64 (1): 52–63.
26.
IPCC. 2013. “Summary for Policy Makers.” In Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by StockerT. F.QinD.PlattnerG. K.TignorM.AllenS. K.BoschungJ.NauelsA.XiaY.BexV.MidgleyP. M.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
27.
JohnsonH. D.2008. Green Plans: Blueprint for a Sustainable Earth. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
28.
KempR.SchotJ.HoogmaR.1998. “Regime Shifts to Sustainability through Processes of Niche Formation: The Approach of Strategic Niche Management.” Technology Analysis & Strategic Management10 (2).
29.
LindblomC. E.1959. “The Science of Muddling Through.” Public Administration Review19 (2): 79–88.
30.
LindsethG.2004. “The Cities for Climate Protection Campaign (CCPC) and the Framing of Local Climate Policy.” Local Environment9 (4): 325–36.
31.
LitfinK.2009. “Reinventing the Future: The Global Ecovillage Movement as a Holistic Knowledge Community.” In Environmental Governance: Knowledge and Power in a Local-Global World, edited by KüttingGabrielaLipschutzRonnie D.New York: Routledge.
McCamantK.DurrettC.1989. Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves. Berkeley: University of California Press.
34.
McCamantK.DurrettC.2011. Creating Cohousing: Building Sustainable Communities. Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers.
35.
MeijeringL.HuigenP.Van HovenB.2007. “Intentional Communities in Rural Spaces.” Tijdschrift Voor Economische En Sociale Geografie98 (1): 42–52.
36.
Millard-BallA.2013. “The Limits to Planning Causal Impacts of City Climate Action Plans.” Journal of Planning Education and Research33 (1): 5–19.
37.
MoosM.WhitfieldJ.JohnsonL. C.AndreyJ.2006. “Does Design Matter? The Ecological Footprint as a Planning Tool at the Local Level.” Journal of Urban Design11 (2): 195–224.
38.
O’HarrowR.1990. “Coast-to-Coast Cavalcade Reaches Area, Legging It Out for the Environment.” Washington Post, September27, Final edition.
39.
OrnetzederM.2001. “Old Technology and Social Innovations. Inside the Austrian Success Story on Solar Water Heaters.” Technology Analysis & Strategic Management13 (1): 105–15.
40.
OrrD. W.2009. Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ReesW. E.1995. “Achieving Sustainability: Reform or Transformation?” Journal of Planning Literature9 (4): 343–61.
43.
ReesW. E.2003. “Economic Development and Environmental Protection: An Ecological Economics Perspective.” Environmental Monitoring and Assessment86 (1–2): 29–45.
44.
RipA.KempR.1998. “Technological Change.” In Human Choice and Climate Change, edited by RaynerS.MaloneE. L., 327–99. Columbus, OH: Battelle Press.
45.
RittelH. W. J.WebberM. M.1973. “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning.” Policy Sciences4 (2): 155–69.
46.
RobinsonJ.2004. “Squaring the Circle? Some Thoughts on the Idea of Sustainable Development.” Ecological Economics48 (4): 369–84.
47.
RogersE. M. (1962) 1995. Diffusion of Innovations, 4th edition.New York: Simon & Schuster.
48.
RotmansJ.KempR.van AsseltM.2001. “More Evolution Than Revolution: Transition Management in Public Policy.” Foresight3 (1): 15–31.
49.
SahaD.PatersonR. G.2008. “Local Government Efforts to Promote the ‘Three Es’ of Sustainable Development: Survey in Medium to Large Cities in the United States.” Journal of Planning Education and Research28 (1): 21–37.
50.
SeyfangG.2010. “Community Action for Sustainable Housing: Building a Low-Carbon Future.” Energy Policy38 (12): 7624–33.
51.
SeyfangG.HaxeltineA.2012. “Growing Grassroots Innovations: Exploring the Role of Community-Based Initiatives in Governing Sustainable Energy Transitions.” Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy30 (3): 381–400.
52.
SeyfangG.SmithA.2007. “Grassroots Innovations for Sustainable Development: Towards a New Research and Policy Agenda.” Environmental Politics16 (4): 584–603.
53.
SmithA.2007. “Translating Sustainabilities between Green Niches and Socio-Technical Regimes.” Technology Analysis & Strategic Management19 (4): 427–50.
54.
SmithA.StirlingA.BerkhoutF.2005. “The Governance of Sustainable Socio-Technical Transitions.” Research Policy34 (10): 1491–1510.
55.
TangZ.BrodyS. D.QuinnC.ChangL.WeiT.2010. “Moving from Agenda to Action: Evaluating Local Climate Change Action Plans.” Journal of Environmental Planning and Management53 (1): 41–62.
TrufferB.CoenenL.2012. “Environmental Innovation and Sustainability Transitions in Regional Studies.” Regional Studies46 (1): 1–21.
58.
VestbroD. U., ed. 2010. “History of Cohousing—Internationally and in Sweden.” In Living Together: Cohousing Ideas and Realities around the World : Proceedings from the International Collaborative Housing Conference in Stockholm 5-9 May 2010. Stockholm: Division of Urban and Regional Studies, Royal Institute of Technology in Collaboration with Kollektivhus NU.
59.
WalkerL.2005. EcoVillage at Ithaca: Pioneering a Sustainable Culture. Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada: New Society Publishers.
60.
WalkerL.2012. “EcoVillage at Ithaca: Principles, Best Practices & Lessons Learned.” Ithaca, NY: EcoVillage at Ithaca Center for Sustainability Education.
61.
WheelerS. M.2008. “State and Municipal Climate Change Plans: The First Generation.” Journal of the American Planning Association74 (4): 481–96.
62.
WilsonL.1991. “Ecovillage Envisions Kinder, Gentler Lifestyle.” The Post Standard, April28, sec. Metro.
