Author(s)

J. Peris Blanes

Abstract

Governance is assumed to be a core challenge for urban sustainability. Rather than a sectorial topic, urban sustainability is a cross cutting concern affecting – and being affected – by many different interests and strategic urban issues. For this reason, urban sustainable development is mainly about how strategic decisions are made in the city, who is involved in these decision-making processes and how accountability is rendered. In this article we propose a set of governance principles for programs on urban sustainability planning and management. They are derived from UNHABITAT experience in building capacities in cities around the world through two specialized programmes: Localizing Agenda 21 (LA21) and Sustainable Cities Programme (SCP). Keywords: sustainable development, urban environment, governance, planning and management, local agenda 21. 1 Introduction 1.1 Governance and urban sustainable development Urban sustainable development is a multidimensional concept involving environmental, economic, social and political issues [1,2]. These interlinks are so strong [3] that it is totally unfeasible to address them separately, so methodologies for urban sustainable development planning and management are called to include an integral and holistic vision leading to long-term, crosscutting and interdisciplinary approaches.

Keywords

sustainable development, urban environment, governance, planning and management, local agenda 21.