Greening structural transformation: what role for industrial hubs?

Altenburg, Tilman / Kasper Vrolijk
External Publications (2020)

in: Arkebe Oqubay / Justin Yifu Lin (eds.), The Oxford handbook of industrial hubs and economic development, Oxford: Oxford Univ. Pr.

ISBN: 978-0-19885-043-4
Information

Enormous environmental challenges call for environmentally sustainable forms of economic development. In this paper we discuss the urgency of green structural transformation in developing countries and the role that industrial hubs can play in this process. We first itemize the different grounds for ‘greening’ industrial structures, then review the most practical green industrial policies, and conclude by appraising three green hubs: eco-cities, green clusters, and eco-industrial parks. Altogether our Chapter brings to the fore that there is considerable leeway for developing countries to seek spatial and non-spatial green policies to reduce ecological footprint whilst increasing competitiveness simultaneously. There are indeed distinct cost advantages in incorporating green incentives and technologies in new cities, clusters and parks, rather than retrofitting them ex post.