IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/poango/v9y2021i1p211-220.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Locating Cities and Their Governments in Multi-Level Sustainability Governance

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Hickmann

    (Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Hickmann, 2021. "Locating Cities and Their Governments in Multi-Level Sustainability Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 211-220.
  • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:211-220
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v9i1.3616
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/3616
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/pag.v9i1.3616?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carolyn Kousky & Stephen H. Schneider, 2003. "Global climate policy: will cities lead the way?," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(4), pages 359-372, December.
    2. James Evans & Andrew Karvonen, 2014. "‘Give Me a Laboratory and I Will Lower Your Carbon Footprint!’ — Urban Laboratories and the Governance of Low-Carbon Futures," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 413-430, March.
    3. Kathryn Davidson & Lars Coenen & Brendan Gleeson, 2019. "A Decade of C40: Research Insights and Agendas for City Networks," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 10(4), pages 697-708, November.
    4. Sander Chan & Harro van Asselt & Thomas Hale & Kenneth W. Abbott & Marianne Beisheim & Matthew Hoffmann & Brendan Guy & Niklas Höhne & Angel Hsu & Philipp Pattberg & Pieter Pauw & Céline Ramstein & Os, 2015. "Reinvigorating International Climate Policy: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Nonstate Action," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 6(4), pages 466-473, November.
    5. Harini Nagendra & Xuemei Bai & Eduardo S. Brondizio & Shuaib Lwasa, 2018. "The urban south and the predicament of global sustainability," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 1(7), pages 341-349, July.
    6. Paul Selman, 1998. "Local Agenda 21: Substance or Spin?," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 533-553.
    7. Kristine Kern & Harriet Bulkeley, 2009. "Cities, Europeanization and Multi‐level Governance: Governing Climate Change through Transnational Municipal Networks," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(2), pages 309-332, March.
    8. Lukas Hakelberg, 2014. "Governance by Diffusion: Transnational Municipal Networks and the Spread of Local Climate Strategies in Europe," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 14(1), pages 107-129, February.
    9. Cynthia Rosenzweig & William Solecki & Stephen A. Hammer & Shagun Mehrotra, 2010. "Cities lead the way in climate–change action," Nature, Nature, vol. 467(7318), pages 909-911, October.
    10. Patricia Romero-Lankao & Harriet Bulkeley & Mark Pelling & Sarah Burch & David J. Gordon & Joyeeta Gupta & Craig Johnson & Priya Kurian & Emma Lecavalier & David Simon & Laura Tozer & Gina Ziervogel &, 2018. "Urban transformative potential in a changing climate," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(9), pages 754-756, September.
    11. Annica Kronsell & Dalia Mukhtar-Landgren, 2018. "Experimental governance: the role of municipalities in urban living labs," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 988-1007, May.
    12. Fitzgerald, Joan, 2010. "Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195382761.
    13. Scott, Allen J. (ed.), 2001. "Global City-Regions: Trends, Theory, Policy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198297994.
    14. repec:bla:jcmkts:v:47:y:2009:i::p:309-332 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Haarstad, Håvard & Wathne, Marikken W., 2019. "Are smart city projects catalyzing urban energy sustainability?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 918-925.
    16. João Guerra & Luísa Schmidt & Luiz Brito Lourenço, 2019. "From Local Agenda 21 to a localized Agenda 2030 – the Portuguese and Brazilian cases in perspective," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 352-367, May.
    17. Jennifer S. Bansard & Philipp H. Pattberg & Oscar Widerberg, 2017. "Cities to the rescue? Assessing the performance of transnational municipal networks in global climate governance," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 229-246, April.
    18. Hoffmann, Matthew J., 2011. "Climate Governance at the Crossroads: Experimenting with a Global Response after Kyoto," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195390087.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sabine Weiland & Thomas Hickmann & Markus Lederer & Jens Marquardt & Sandra Schwindenhammer, 2021. "The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Transformative Change through the Sustainable Development Goals?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 90-95.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas Hickmann, 2021. "Locating Cities and Their Governments in Multi-Level Sustainability Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 211-220.
    2. Vanesa Castán Broto & Linda K. Westman, 2020. "Ten years after Copenhagen: Reimagining climate change governance in urban areas," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), July.
    3. Michele Acuto & Benjamin Leffel, 2021. "Understanding the global ecosystem of city networks," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(9), pages 1758-1774, July.
    4. David J. Gordon, 2016. "Lament for a network? Cities and networked climate governance in Canada," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(3), pages 529-545, May.
    5. Marielle Papin, 2019. "Transnational municipal networks: Harbingers of innovation for global adaptation governance?," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 467-483, October.
    6. Ana Gonzalez & Christof Brandtner, 2024. "Green in their own way: Pragmatic and progressive means for cities to overcome institutional barriers to sustainability," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(13), pages 2513-2530, October.
    7. Federico Cuomo & Stefania Ravazzi & Federico Savini & Luca Bertolini, 2020. "Transformative Urban Living Labs: Towards a Circular Economy in Amsterdam and Turin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-19, September.
    8. Leslie Quitzow & Friederike Rohde, 2022. "Imagining the smart city through smart grids? Urban energy futures between technological experimentation and the imagined low-carbon city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(2), pages 341-359, February.
    9. Antje Otto & Kristine Kern & Wolfgang Haupt & Peter Eckersley & Annegret H. Thieken, 2021. "Ranking local climate policy: assessing the mitigation and adaptation activities of 104 German cities," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 167(1), pages 1-23, July.
    10. Quitzow, Leslie & Rohde, Friederike, 2022. "Imagining the smart city through smart grids? Urban energy futures between technological experimentation and the imagined low-carbon city," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 341-359.
    11. Éva Greutter-Gregus & Gábor Koncz & Kitti Némedi-Kollár, 2024. "Resource Efficiency and the Role of Renewable Energy in Miskolc: The City’s Journey Towards Becoming a Smart City," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-28, November.
    12. Jennifer S. Bansard & Philipp H. Pattberg & Oscar Widerberg, 2017. "Cities to the rescue? Assessing the performance of transnational municipal networks in global climate governance," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 229-246, April.
    13. Irmisch, Janne & Haupt, Wolfgang & Eckersley, Peter & Kern, Kristine & Müller, Hannah, 2022. "Klimapolitische Entwicklungspfade deutscher Groß- und Mittelstädte," IRS Dialog 2/2022, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS).
    14. Ekaterina Domorenok & Giuseppe Acconcia & Lena Bendlin & Xira Ruiz Campillo, 2020. "Experiments in EU Climate Governance: The Unfulfilled Potential of the Covenant of Mayors," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(4), pages 122-142, Autumn.
    15. Pamela Robinson & Christopher Gore, 2015. "Municipal climate reporting: gaps in monitoring and implications for governance and action," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 33(5), pages 1058-1075, October.
    16. Dave Huitema & Andrew Jordan & Stefania Munaretto & Mikael Hildén, 2018. "Policy experimentation: core concepts, political dynamics, governance and impacts," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(2), pages 143-159, June.
    17. Anna Kosovac & Michele Acuto & Terry Louise Jones, 2020. "Acknowledging Urbanization: A Survey of the Role of Cities in UN Frameworks," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 11(3), pages 293-304, May.
    18. Marcel T. J. Kok & Kathrin Ludwig, 2022. "Understanding international non-state and subnational actors for biodiversity and their possible contributions to the post-2020 CBD global biodiversity framework: insights from six international coope," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-25, March.
    19. Castán Broto, Vanesa, 2017. "Urban Governance and the Politics of Climate change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 1-15.
    20. Saveria Olga Murielle Boulanger & Martina Massari, 2022. "Advocating Urban Transition: A Qualitative Review of Institutional and Grassroots Initiatives in Shaping Climate-Aware Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-18, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v9:y:2021:i:1:p:211-220. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.