Deniz Zeynep Leuenberger

Sustainable Development in Public Administration A Match With Practice

Sustainability and sustainable development are concepts that are increasingly used in the field of public administration. In considering long-run planning, intergenerational equity, reduction of risk, and conservation of resources in administrative planning, sustainability may have a significant contributory role. This article traces the link between the principles of sustainable development and the tenets of public administration. In the application of broad-based sustainable development, it finds the reflection of efficiency, effectiveness, and citizen participation. By asking, Are the goals of sustainable development a match with public administration practice?, it finds that sustainable development may be applied to much of the work of the public sector, including to the provision of transportation, public housing, human services, and environmental protection. Finally, it suggests the unique contribution of sustainability to the field of public administration.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION PLANNING: AN EXPLORATION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE, EQUITY, AND CITIZEN INCLUSION

Sustainability development is receiving increased attention in public administration theory and practice. It has been lauded as promoting increased environmental well-being, while also improving the well-being of citizens. Can sustainable development principles promote social justice, equality, and citizen participation in public administration practice? Will these principles be at odds with economic stability? What are the overall consequences for civil society? This paper considers these questions by exploring case studies in which the application and practice of environmental sustainability is integrated in public decision making. It discusses the role of sustainable development in public risk management and in promoting social justice through the use of systems approaches, time and place knowledge, and stakeholder participation.

Sustainability in Action Local Applications for Public Administration

Public administration has moved beyond speaking of sustainability as a norm or a philosophy towards implementation and action. Lessons learned from sustainable development practice must now be documented and shared to increase the positive impact of sustainability initiatives. This series of papers offers that opportunity, with a special focus on local government applications of sustainability.

The Idea of Sustainable Development in Public Administration

This article introduces the Focus Issue on Sustainable Development by first discussing the environmental problems caused by unsustainable development and then the shortcomings caused by a piecemeal approach to policy development and implementation. The idea of sustainability appears to fit well with other core values of public administration, which is a consistent theme throughout each of the articles in this issue. Definitions of sustainability are discussed, followed by two relevant models. Finally, each article in the focus issue is introduced.

Introduction—Signs of the Times: Environmental Sustainability, Citizens, Leadership, and Social Justice

Environmental sustainability seems to be new to public administration. Since the late 1990s, walls of books on environmental sustainability and sustainable development line libraries and the offices of urban developers, community planners, and specialist from fields ranging from biology to construction to management. Environmental sustainability and sustainable development have become a component of government planning and policymaking. At the international level, the United Nations and the World Bank have adopted environmental sustainability goals in large scale development and training. Sustainable development is being applied in both urban and rural and in both technologically advanced and technologically under-developed nations from the Netherlands to Kenya. The intense funding of sustainability research and citizen education by the European Union highlights increasing commitment to environmental well-being. In the United States of America, there is an increased policy focus on global climate change through the reduction of carbon-dioxide emissions and on the development of alternative energies in light of limited petroleum resources. Also a number of individual states have implemented mandates and recommendations for managing organizational and citizen action related to consumption, energy production, waste management, and environmental impact planning, moving beyond federal leadership approaches to these issues.

Sustainability and Transportation

This paper examines the evolution of the U.S. transportation system with a particular focus on transportation sustainability. Drawing from transportation history and emerging sustainability practice, the paper articulates new roles for public administration practitioners to enable them to promote sustainable transportation.

The Use of Economic Criteria in the Goods Provision Decisions of City Managers and Administrators

What are the decision-making criteria used by public admin istrators in recommending which goods and services should be provided by local governments? Do city managers and administrators base their decisions on political criteria such as citizen support, elected official buy in, and special interest group advocacy, or do they focus on transaction and regulation costs and cost-benefit analysis? These ques tions are part of the ongoing debate in public administration about the relative importance of economic and political criteria in budget decision making. Empirical evidence at the local level has informed this largely normative discussion. In this article, survey methodol ogy is used to explore classic economic and budgeting theories in the context of budget decision making, with particular attention paid to economic and political criteria.