Work

Sisters in sustainability: municipal partnerships for social, environmental, and economic growth

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: While debates about sustainable development tend to focus on national- and international-scale problems, sustainability programs and research generally focus on the regional, county, municipal, or even household level. Less research has focused on evaluating the benefits of pairing two cities (i.e., sister city partnerships) with different needs and capabilities to jointly enhance the potential for sustainable practices between the cities. Given shrinking state and federal budgets and the nascent national climate policy, how might US cities use existing resources to achieve greater levels of sustainability? This paper presents a new data-driven mathematical tool—the partnership assessment for intra-regional sustainability—that city planners can use to explore the prospects for improving sustainability practices by leveraging existing resources and establishing synergistic partnerships with neighboring cities. The efficacy of the tool is assessed through the presentation of a Southern California case study and the results of a psychological survey of Southern California residents. Results indicate that cities of different size and scale would benefit from synergistic sustainability programs that pool the resources and needs of both cities. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential societal implications, methodological issues, and barriers to implementation.

Source: Sustainability Science

DOI: 10.1007/s11625-014-0248-6

Authors: Dustin McLarty, Nora Davis, Joshua Gellers, Nasrin Nasrollahi, Erik Altenbernd

Institution: University of California, Irvine

Language: English

Topic: Sustainable Urban and Rural Development

Subfield: Urban Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Partnerships for the goals, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,890