Leadership for Sustainable Cities – an international outlook Executive Summary Driven by processes of industrialization and urbanization, the world's cities account for a significant share of global emissions and are seen as posing great challenges to sustainable global development. But cities are also arenas where new ideas and technical solutions are being developed and implemented. Several cities in different parts of the world are today frontrunners in addressing social, economic and environmental challenges facing the world. In the current absence of a coherent and consistent global leadership in the fight for combating climate change, cities are frequently taking the lead in moving forward and pushing for sustainable development. The Swedish think-tank Global Challenge’s report on “Leadership for Sustainable Cities” provides an overview of such initiatives. The report highlights fifteen cities from various parts of the world, all of which have been recognized internationally for being prominent examples of economically, socially and ecologically sustainable cities. In the analysis of these cities, particular emphasis has been put on the crucial role that the political and administrative leadership have played in the cities’ different pathways towards increased sustainability. For a more in-depth analysis of the role of leadership in the transformation of cities, leaders from five of these fifteen cities have been interviewed: Joan Clos, former Mayor of the City of Barcelona and current director of the UN-HABITAT; Park Won Soon, Mayor of Seoul, South Korea; Sam Adams, former Mayor of Portland, USA; Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia; and Debra Roberts, founder and director of the Environmental Planning and Climate Protection Department, EThekwini municipality, Durban, South Africa.
The cities in the report have different backgrounds, both in a cultural, economic and social sense, as well as different models of governance. The drivers and motivations behind embarking on a sustainable development vary. In spite of quite fundamental differences, these cities nevertheless have at least one thing in common; they all represent a strong and visionary leadership, aiming to create sustainable urban development.
Sam Adams, mayor of Portland (Oregon), 2009-2012, now active lobbyist at ‘The City Club of Portland’.
The report focuses on the following questions: What is the role of leadership in processes of sustainable urban development? How important are the relations between the city administration and the private sector, as well as between politicians and citizens? In what ways do national governments support or obstruct local efforts as cities embark on a path towards sustainable urban development?
Main conclusions
1. A sense of urgency
The different paths to sustainable development reflected in the report point to the difficulties in advocating general strategies as well as universal advices as to what defines good leadership. The five interviewed leaders all tend to be quite vague when being asked about recommendations and advice to other city leaders. This is somewhat symptomatic: urban leadership is different from both the leadership of companies and that of a national government. Crucially, there is a general lack of a linear direction from decision to action in a city. Urban leadership is a combination of practical approaches to service delivery and a democratic process involving a range of stakeholders, and responsibilities and mandates are sometimes not initially fully established, but rather being gradually clarified. Furthermore, the conditions and potentials for cities with such different backgrounds also differ profoundly, making advices either too general or irrelevant.
What triggers a city to embark on a path towards urban sustainability? The research on urban planning and development emphasizes the presence of “a sense of urgencyâ€?. If different actors are satisfied with the status quo, the incentives for change are limited. Collaboration between various stakeholders has the best potential for success if there is a shared vision as well as an eagerness and commitment to realize this vision. But the actors involved also need to share the view that there is an urgent need for action. For example, in Barcelona, the city underwent an economic crisis in the late 1980s followed by the closure of several industries and high unemployment rates. Even more pressing were problems with the wastewater system that caused flooding, while the slum areas in the city became more and more degraded. In BogotĂĄ, the situation had become increasingly deteriorated, with high levels of violence and insecurity and a city infrastructure in need of upgrading. After a period of rapid and intense industrialization, Seoul had turned into a city with palpable problems of traffic congestion, poor air quality and degraded ecosystems. Against this background, there was an increasingly shared vision of the need to initiate a process of change and city renewal.
2. The importance of the process
Seoul, South Korea
The answers given by the leaders interviewed nevertheless point to some general success factors which have been highlighted in the report. Many of these factors have support in current research on processes of planning and urban development. In the following part, some crucial aspects are highlighted.
Attractiveness and density are key words in the urban development strategies of several cities in the report. However, density may create conflict surfaces between diverging interests. Turning initiatives and solutions from thought into action further requires sophisticated processes where parties can mutually adapt to each other. A transparent and effective process towards sustainable urban development should therefore be an interplay between informed and engaged actors, working together to find practical solutions to challenges in a complex environment. Such processes of interaction calls for models based on inclusive leadership, sound governance and openness to interaction rather than traditional government
processes. Success factors in such processes of governance are communication skills, confidence- and team building. These factors are clearly reflected in most of the interviews – it is this type of leadership that sets the culture. The leaders interviewed all emphasize the need of building coalitions and adjusting the policies to a continuously changing environment. Interestingly, even though many of the leaders appear to be quite independent individuals with a strong will, all of them also stress the need of interaction and cooperation with different stakeholders, ensuring their vision has broad support.
3. Plan or process If an integrated and gradually evolving process is seen as crucial in urban development – does the report indicate a need for a designed (grand) plan? The given answer from the leaders, as well as from the research, is that there is indeed a need for both. If we by a plan mean a negotiated document aimed to satisfy the interests of the individual as well as society, then the plan is the institution required to create a target-oriented process. A strategy with no clear direction, and limited links to resources – generally named “vision” of the leaders being interviewed – might not be helpful in gaining support for a common strategy and goal since various different actors are involved. Without a coordinated, commonly agreed process where various opinions and views are being considered, different stakeholders might find it difficult to participate in the process, as well as take responsibility for the outcome. Insecurity as regards the degree of seriousness and commitment of political leaders’ ambitions tends to make actors await the course of events. In particular, there is a demand for clear and long-term rules from the private sector that want to minimize the insecurity that may be caused by “the political game”.
Singapore
Among the key success factors needed to minimize this insecurity is the presence of a cross-party agreement of the decisions taken, indicating that the decision will still be valid even after a potential shift in political majority. It is further of crucial importance that the decision is binding in a way that it legitimizes action and allocates the resources needed for implementation.
4. Results How shall one make sure that the changes that have been initiated will be permanent and leading to long-lasting results? That results are climate-smart, resource-effective and creates added value in the long-term? How to ensure that the changes are not only occasional ripples on the water? For successful urban development, there appears to be a need for an approach based on mainstreaming. This implies that key decisions are being undertaken as part of a thorough consequence analysis within a framework of sustainable development. In order for this to be successful the current development course of a city should be mapped and documented in order to provide an effective entry point for mainstreaming.
Concluding remarks The report shows that cities are developing through an intricate interplay between public decisions and market forces against a backdrop of economic, technical and social trends. Challenges to an effective process might for instance occur in forms of legislation that does not allow certain actions or stakeholders pursuing alternative goals and agendas, which can erode popular support. Even more crucial though, is the need to deal with deep-seated routines and cultural habits that may impinge upon the change process. Such patterns, frequently of a more cultural nature, are being transformed and developed in a much slower pace than what is necessary given the seriousness and urgency of the need to promote sustainable development. To remove barriers is consequently about establishing ownership and responsibility for different measures in support of a common strategy. No single individual or institution can claim ownership for the city as a whole. A transformation based upon quite vague holistic approaches tends to make no specific person or institution accountable. An integrated urban development calls for collaboration between different sectors as well as levels of government based on a shared platform. This implies: •
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At national level: an allocation in the state budget and an adaptation of regulations aiming to reduce conflict of interests between policy levels and sectors At regional level: a mandate and power to pursue regional integration At city level: a transition from focusing on reactive land-use planning to proactively push for processes of urban development and transformation For private actors: collaboration with the city, not only in the planning process but also in processes of innovation, implementation and management
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For the citizens: citizenship that participation.
an active calls for
Clear and effective city politics creates distinct areas of responsibility at national, regional and city level. Such policies may enhance demands for accountability, but it also sends signals about the importance of collaboration between sectors and levels of government. It significantly increases the potential for leadership on city development. And, not least important, a relationship of trust between voters and elected leaders are strongly linked to a case where policies and decisions are transparent and where leadership is perceived to represent impartial and accountable institutions. The interviews in this report not only illustrate an inspiring leadership. They also points to the fact that a strong leadership generally requires considerable margin of capacity to manoeuvre. By summarizing the answers from the interviews, successful leadership is about: •
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Possessing considerable knowledge of the surrounding world and from this being able to see potentials for the own city by drawing on experiences from others Building credibility and stability around the direction of travel, so that different actors’ risk assessments exclude changes in direction or in the rules of the game Mobilizing citizens and employees around urban development and find incentives that free resources and energy and encourage a desire for change.
The report shows that in spite of different challenges, contexts and resources, cities may indeed be able to pursue an ambitious agenda for urban development by the help of a strong, visionary and not least inclusionary leadership.
Global Challenge (Global Utmaning) is an independent Swedish think tank. It is a network of people from business, politics and academia focusing on the challenges posed by a new world order regarding economics, environment and democracy.