Barrier Dominance Hierarchy in Megacity Cleaner Production Transitions: An Empirical Regression-Based Urban Sustainability Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/kx4zdf90Keywords:
Sustainable entrepreneurship, Electric vehicle adoption, Barrier dominance hierarchy, Megacity sustainability, Urban mobility transitionsAbstract
Accelerating sustainable urban transitions requires moving beyond descriptive listings of barriers toward empirically grounded dominance frameworks that explain why cleaner production adoption remains constrained in megacities. Addressing this gap, the present study proposes and empirically validates a dominance-based barrier hierarchy model to identify the key determinants of sustainable technology diffusion in a megacity context. Drawing on a structured survey (N = 412) and multivariate regression analysis supported by robustness diagnostics, including reliability and factor validity tests, the study evaluates the relative impact of financial, infrastructural, technological, and behavioural barriers on adoption intention and implementation intensity. The findings reveal that infrastructural inadequacy and financial constraints exert the strongest explanatory effects, while regulatory ambiguity and behavioural inertia act as secondary yet statistically significant influences. The megacity context intensifies capital constraints and grid capacity limitations, thereby altering conventional patterns of barrier dominance observed in prior single-city and national-level studies. The proposed framework extends sustainability transition theory by incorporating dominance hierarchy logic to capture the interaction and relative strength of barriers within complex urban systems. It provides a scalable analytical tool for diagnosing constraints and prioritising interventions across diverse urban settings. From a practical perspective, the results offer actionable insights for policymakers, industry stakeholders, and entrepreneurial actors to design infrastructure-first strategies and accelerate decarbonisation pathways in high-density urban environments.
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