Abstract
Cities and their governments are increasingly recognized as important actors in global sustainability governance. With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, their role in the global endeavor to foster sustainability has once again been put in the spotlight. Several scholars have highlighted pioneering local strategies and policies to implement the Sustainable Development Goals and render urban areas more sustainable. However, the question of how such urban sustainability actions are embedded in complex interactions between public and private actors operating at different levels has not been studied in enough detail. Building upon a multi-level governance approach, this article explores the entanglement and interconnectedness of cities and local governments with actors and institutions at various levels and scales to better capture the potential and limitations of urban policymaking contributing to global sustainability. The article finds that on the one hand cities and their governments are well positioned to engage other actors into a policy dialogue. On the other hand, local authorities face considerable budgetary and institutional capacity constraints, and they heavily rely on support from actors at other governmental levels and societal scales to carry out effective sustainability actions in urban areas.
Highlights
Over the past few years, numerous scholars have pointed to the growing importance of cities and their governments in global policymaking (e.g., Amen, Toly, McCarney, & Segbers, 2011; Curtis, 2014)
That research line has raised public awareness of local sustainability actions. Some of these studies have an overtly optimistic tone regarding the impact of local sustainability initiatives on global developments and tend to overestimate the capacities of cities and their governments to cope with sustainability issues independently from actors at other levels and scales
While local governments generally have a good position in the multi-level governance system to engage actors at other governmental levels and societal scales into a policy dialogue, the following sections discuss the connectivity of cities and their governments to other actors in global sustainability governance
Summary
Over the past few years, numerous scholars have pointed to the growing importance of cities and their governments in global policymaking (e.g., Amen, Toly, McCarney, & Segbers, 2011; Curtis, 2014). To conduct sustainability projects on the ground, cities and local governments rely on regional and national governments, international funding schemes, civil society engagement, and private corporations that all operate in the multi-level governance system. This is sometimes neglected in the debate about the opportunities of cities and their governments to address sustainability issues in urban areas. The article’s principal aim is to put forward a conceptual argument that the abilities and capacities of cities and their governments to contribute to global sustainability need to be seen in the context of the overall multi-level governance system To develop this argument, the present article focuses on studies from the field of climate and sustainability politics and governance and draws on some illustrative examples from this burgeoning scholarship. I draw some general conclusions on the role and function of cities and local governments in the global endeavor to achieve sustainability and point to a promising research avenue
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