The Roles and Synergies of Actors in the Green Building Transition: Lessons from Singapore

Abstract

Transforming the building sector toward sustainability based on green building (GB) technologies is a multi-faceted, multi-actor process of socio-technical transition. Understanding the different roles of primary actors in both technological and non-technological dimensions of GB transition is pivotal for effectively engaging multiple GB stakeholders during this process. However, relevant research is rare in the GB literature. This paper conducts an actor analysis based on a conceptual framework constructed on the actor and power relation typology from the multi-actor perspective approach and regime insights from the multi-level perspective theory. A qualitative case study of Singapore is adopted to exemplify the roles of the government, developers, citizens and NGOs, determined by their respective power and multi-actor power relations, and to evaluate their synergetic influence on the technological, social and governance dimensions of the GB transition. It was found that the government leads all three dimensions of GB transition and it has an indirect impact on promoting the technological transformation and social adaption by synergizing the other three actors. As the intermediary between government and non-government actors, NGOs indirectly influence GB transition by primarily assisting the government. Developers and citizens directly contribute to technological transformation and social adaption, respectively, and they have an indirect impact on the opposite dimensions through interacting with one another. We argue that a successful GB transition entails synergies from multi-actor interactions and the interplay of technical and non-technical development. This paper offers a heuristic framework for multi-actor analysis in the multi-faceted GB transition and generates policy lessons for other cities.