Space and scale in socio-technical transitions

The multi-level perspective (MLP) is a widely adopted framework for analysing stability, change and transitions in socio-technical systems. Key to explanations of change is the interaction between nested levels (niche, regime, landscape) constituting socio-technical systems over time. This paper proposes a second generation, multi-scalar MLP that explicitly incorporates a spatial scale. Recent developments in innovation studies and contributions from regional studies and geography are reviewed. We draw on notions of space as being relational, fluid and contested by institutionally situated actors. Dynamics in socio-technical systems are explained not only by interactions between modes of structuration and developments over time, but also by interactions between actors and institutions situated across different levels of spatial scale. The paper explores the kinds of insights that might emerge from adopting a second generation MLP to socio-technical systems with a case study of biomass gasification in India.

► This paper proposes a second generation MLP that incorporates a spatial scale. ► Recent developments in innovation studies and geography are reviewed. ► This leads to a multi-scalar MLP with a theorisation of time, structure and space. ► New research directions are explored with the case of biomass gasification in India.