Governance for sustainable urban development: the double function of SDG indicators
Journal article, 2019

At the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is the imperative of monitoring progress and holding policy-makers accountable. For this purpose, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 230 global indicators were established with the double function of being a report card and a management tool. In the light of a pilot study about the experiences of local planning officials in the City of Gothenburg, Sweden, in relation to the suggested indicators for SDG 11, ‘Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable’, and a comparison with findings in four other cities, the paper argues for a need to reprioritize indicator criteria to serve better governance for sustainable development in diverse urban contexts worldwide.

indicators

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

2030 Agenda

urban sustainability

sustainable governance

Author

Stina Hansson

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra)

Helen Arfvidsson

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra)

David Simon

The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research (Mistra)

Royal Holloway University of London

Area Development and Policy

23792957 (eISSN)

Vol. 4 3 217-235

Subject Categories (SSIF 2011)

Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Architecture

Landscape Architecture

DOI

10.1080/23792949.2019.1585192

More information

Latest update

4/15/2025