Phasing in: Understanding the emergence of Vienna’s natural gas dependence, 1969-1978

The city of Vienna rapidly shifted to natural gas in 1969-1978. We combine energy history with a transition research approach and analyze a broad corpus of textual sources and statistical records to trace the governance structures enabling the shift to natural gas and the biophysical development of the Vienna gas grid. Addressing energy transitions not just as technical, but also as sociopolitical processes will enable us to draw lessons for present challenges in urban energy transitions.