Sustainability management in cities: a perspective regarding the role of civil society networks in the public policy analysis process

Abstract

Alongside the consolidation of the multicentric model of public management, new forms of organization have been structured to act in the public policy process, seeking to contribute to the development of the policies’ contexts and to direct this development toward a more sustainable trajectory. This research analyzes the relationship between civil society and the state, investigating how civil society networks aimed at sustainable development in cities act in the public policy analysis process. We studied four cases through an interpretative data analysis, researching how they act in the stages of problem identification, agenda setting, and formulation of alternatives. We concluded that the networks act in the three stages, and their contributions are represented by diagnoses about the city, events to debate themes, and explicit advocacy work with public managers. We assess that the systematized approach and the technical bias adopted by these networks contribute to them being considered an instance of support for local management by providing useful information to direct cities toward a more sustainable development trajectory.

A tool for measuring sustainability of cities. Case study on Eastern European states

“…At the level of 2015, the UN estimated that 54% of the global population lived in cities, which where considered, therefore, the main places of life in society [2]. By 2030, it is expected that 60% of the global population will be housed in cities, given that one person in three will live in cities with over half a million inhabitants [3].…”

“…Although, historically speaking, the size of the cities indicates the wealth of countries, today many of the most densely populated cities are actually located in the poorest countries [2]. In the current, unprecedented expansion, over 90% of urban growth is registered in developing countries, and in the urban areas of the poorest regions of the world, approximately 70 million inhabitants are added annually [6,7].…”