Examining system-level agency in the context of spatially embedded industries: a study of Greater Manchester’s domestic retrofit industry

This paper uncovers the role of system-level agency in improving the availability of key resources for the emergence and growth of a spatially embedded industry. Our case of decarbonisation of the housing stock in Greater Manchester, UK, demonstrates that system-level agency entails linking up resources formation and mobilisation processes that play out at both the levels of territory and industry. Our findings underscore the importance of learning processes in driving the adaptation of system-level agent’s strategies to address persistent and emerging barriers to new path development but call for more attention to the resource requirements arising from industry characteristics.