Urban Sustainability Strategies Guided by the SDGs—A Tale of Four Cities

Kerstin Krellenberg, Hannah Bergsträßer, Daria Bykova, Nele Kress and Katharine Tyndall
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Kerstin Krellenberg: Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
Hannah Bergsträßer: Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
Daria Bykova: Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
Nele Kress: Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany
Katharine Tyndall: Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management, University of Leipzig, 04109 Leipzig, Germany

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-20

Abstract: The United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, signed in 2015 and backed-up with its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), mentions cities as key players for evolving actively towards more sustainability. This underpins that living in the cities of the urban age is increasingly becoming the focus of sustainability discussions, which is particularly reflected in SDG 11 “Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. As urban sustainability strategies are playing a key role for the development of cities, this article sheds light on four cities’ sustainability strategies. The case studies highlight shortcomings, in terms of integrated visions, clear targets, and indicators in existing urban (sustainability) strategies. The article discusses these issues in light of an analytical framework, and stresses challenges and opportunities that SDG implementation involves.

Keywords: SDGs; urban sustainability transformations; comparative case study; strategic planning; Hamburg; Magdeburg; Milwaukee; St. Petersburg (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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