When we plug our kettle into the power cord or switch our lights and fans on, from where does the power really come? How is it that we do not know where our electricity is generated, but we have a ubiquitous supply of it? What happens in the places where energy is generated? How come we do not see these ‘energy landscapes’ that generate power for us, but if they were to collapse, it would leave us altogether at a loss? These are just some questions to contemplate as one reads ‘Urban Energy Landscapes’ by Vanesa Castán Broto (2019).
Vanesa Castán Broto is a professor of Climate Urbanism in the School of Geography and Planning at the University of Sheffield. In 2016, she received the Philip Leverhulme Prize for contributions to Geography and, in 2013, a United Nations Award for Lighthouse Activities that contribute to fighting climate change with a focus on the urban poor. (Castan Broto, Vanesa, Professor, 2024) Her book, Urban Energy Landscapes, is a stimulating book on the modern energy relationships that govern our metropolitan areas today. Energy, today, is an essential subject of contention in a largely hidden-in-sight network of complex transmissions and exchanges. The book delves into the social and governance aspects of energy infrastructures and how they influence and are shaped by urban environments.
Key themes
The book starts with three main propositions where she emphasises the importance of a postcolonial viewing of urban energy, that the politics of urban energy are constituted in relational spaces, and that urban energy landscapes reveal the situated nature of low-carbon technologies. Broto puts forward a key argument in the book, namely that we should not view energy transitions solely as infrastructural additions to cities that happen technologically in the outskirts. This argument further expands to critique the emphasis on energy efficiency planning, which has failed to provide solutions for the world’s population. She also proceeds to portray the importance of a situated reading of socio-ecological processes in the energy debate and how current energy policies and governance do not take into consideration the more significant socio-spatial dynamics surrounding energy landscapes.
Broto’s most crucial take, which can also be traced back to other writers who have written about energy before, such as Dirk Sijmons (Sijmons, 2014) and Ivan Illich (Illich, 1974), is that energy infrastructures are not neutral but rather embedded systems in the spatial, social and political framework. We can also compare her arguments with those of contemporary scholars of political ecology, who are critical of power and resource distribution in the Anthropocene.
Case Studies
One of the most compelling reasons to read this book is the situated and textured reading of landscapes in the Global South. Through case studies of four different cities — Maputo, Bangalore, Hong Kong, and Concepción — Broto offers a holistic understanding of how urban energy landscapes operate in diverse environments. By also comparing the global North and the Global South, we get a clearer picture of the ground realities and how the connections work at the root level.
Her analysis also reveals how energy practices differ between the grassroots and top-down levels, with a stark contrast in the way people perceive and receive energy. The case studies show how urban energy landscapes are heterogeneous, partly due to their historical dependence on urban life and how multiple dynamics shape urban energy futures. Moreover, reading through the empirical work brings strong images that represent the experiences of walking through the energy infrastructures.
Implications
This book is essential for architects, urban planners and designers because it offers critical insights into the spatial dimensions of energy systems. Broto argues that energy planning should be done hand-in-hand with urban planning processes rather than treated as a separate entity in planning and compartmentalised as technical. This way of treating specific areas of planning as technical undermines the social and political interactions that inform infrastructures. Energy infrastructures are not devoid of human interactions, and their planning should incorporate a more nuanced view of how they affect communities and people.
The discussion on informal energy systems and lived experiences highlights the importance of why energy planning must be integrated with urban planning. One key takeaway from the book is the importance of energy infrastructures in society and the social implications they have on our day-to-day lives. Moving away from only adhering to aesthetic parameters, sustainable development calls for rethinking how we design and plan our towns and our energy. However, we have not yet fathomed energy generation systems or understood how energy works in our urban realm.
Thoughts on the book
Urban Energy Landscapes is an unconventional but powerful critique of existing energy paradigms. Breaking the notion of universal energy and the belief that all energy systems have the same social implications, the book introduces new ways of understanding energy infrastructures. It forces us to look deeper into the energy infrastructure we take for granted. Broto’s writing could have benefitted from more clarity in implementing the strategies presented in the book. Nevertheless, it is an important read for anyone who wants an understanding of what our energy futures could look like and why there is so much disparity in how we consume energy globally. It challenges and reminds us of the importance of integrating energy-based knowledge in our planning and thinking about justice through energy.
In times of global climate uncertainties, this book is a timely contribution to the discourse of urban futures and a must-read for anyone who wishes to engage critically with urban energy transitions.
References:
Castán Broto, V. (2019). Urban Energy Landscapes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108297868.
Castan Broto, Vanesa, Professor (2024). Available at: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography-planning/people/academic-research/vanesa-castan-broto (Accessed: 15 February 2025).
Illich, I. (1974). Energy and Equity. London.
Sijmons, D. (2014) Landscape and Energy: Designing Transition. 1st edition. Edited by J. Hugtenburg, A.V. Hoorn, and F. Feddes. Rotterdam: NAI Publishers.
