Sustainability transitions refer to long-term structural changes concerning less carbon, environmentally regenerative and socially inclusive systems. These transitions have received growing interest in both academic and policy discussions, especially in the Global South. However, the geographical aspects of these transitions remain underexplored. There is a limited integrative understanding of how context-specific socio-political, ecological, and institutional factors influence transition paths in developing countries. Based on 50 peer-reviewed articles, policy documents and institutional reports published between 2007 and 2024, this integrative review critically examines sustainability transitions in select regions of the Global South. Referring to a thematic synthesis method, this review traces four major directions of transitions, namely the development of renewable energy, water governance, adaptation to climate, and sustainable city and assesses the role of geography, governance models, and local capacities in shaping transition consequences. African, Asian, and Latin American case studies were rationally selected to capture geographical diversity and thematic relevance. The results show that resource endowments and institutional arrangement can be either the driver or the limitation, but the transition success is ultimately predetermined by multi-level governance integration, international cooperation, and integration of marginal actors. Also, this review shows considerable regional imbalances in research focus as the Middle East and other small island nations are underrepresented in the literature on transition. It concludes with a suggestion of the geography-sensitive framework of sustainability transition in developing context and provides a policy guideline towards alleviating structural asymmetries, local innovation system empowerment and balancing transition with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This review contributes to discourse on global sustainability by highlighting the spatial politics of the processes of transition and widening of transition research to a more regionally bound one.
A.W.G.N.M. Abeyrathna (Wed,) studied this question.