Why go public? Public configurations and the supportive and divergent views towards public district heating in the Netherlands

Introduction Cities are taking up services of social importance under the (re)municipalisation movement. The Dutch government embarked on an ambitious heat transition and proposed in 2022 to make all district heating projects public or semi-public, with a majority public share. This proposal has sparked intense debates among groups in favour of and against a shift to public ownership. Methods This study assessed 16 public projects through qualitative research and uncovered the arguments for and against public ownership among key public and private stakeholders. Results While public ownership i... Mehr ...