Managing the Sustainable City

We hear the term “sustainability” everywhere today. In the context of city management, the term often refers to environmental concerns, both locally and globally. Managing the Sustainable City examines not only how cities can prepare to weather the local effects of climate change, but also how urban centers can sustain themselves through other modern management challenges, including budgeting and finance, human resource management, public safety, and infrastructure. This clearly written and engaging new textbook provides a comprehensive overview of urban administration today, exploring the unique demographics of cities, local government political structures, intergovernmental relations, and the full range of service delivery areas for which cities are ever more responsible.

Throughout the book, two important components of city management today—the use of technology and measuring performance for accountability—are highlighted, along with NASPAA accreditation standards and competencies. Particular attention is paid to incorporating Urban Administration standards to provide students using the text will have a thorough understanding of:

The ethics of local government management
The roles and relationships among local and elected/appointed government officials, as well as what makes local institutions different from other institutions
Strategies for engaging citizens in local governance
The complexities of intergovernmental and network relationships to develop skills in collaborative governance
How to manage local government financial resources as well as human resources

Public service values such as accountability, transparency, efficiency, effectiveness, ethical behavior, and equity and emphasized throughout the text, and discussion questions, exercises, and “career pathways” highlighting successful public servants in a variety of city management roles are included in each chapter. Managing the Sustainable City is an ideal textbook for students of public administration, public policy, and public affairs interested in learning how cities can be sustainable—in their management, their policies, and their interactions with their citizens—as well as in preparing for and managing the impacts of climate change.

Author Biography

Genie N. L. Stowers is Professor of Public Administration at San Francisco State University, USA.

Albert C. Hyde is currently Visiting Professor of Public Administration at Northern Illinois University, USA.

M. Ernita Joaquin is Associate Professor of Public Administration at San Francisco State University, USA.