Capacity to Sustain Sustainability: A Study of U.S. Cities

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2012.02566.x
• Date: 01 November 2012
• Author: XiaoHu Wang,Christopher V. Hawkins,Nick Lebredo,Evan M. Berman
• Published date: 01 November 2012

XiaoHu Wang is professor of public

administration at City University of Hong

Kong. Previously, he was professor of

public administration at the University of

Central Florida. His research covers topics

in f‌i nancial management, performance

management, environmental f‌i nancing,

and sustainability management. He is

author of three books, including Financial

Management in the Public Sector (3rd

ed., M. E. Sharpe, forthcoming).

E-mail: xwang1989@gmail.com

Christopher V. Hawkins is assistant

professor of public administration at the

University of Central Florida. His research

focuses on metropolitan governance,

land use, and economic development. He

has published in the Journal of Urban

Affairs and the American Review of

Public Administration. His current work

is supported by the U.S. Department of

Agriculture.

E-mail: christopher.hawkins@ucf.edu

Nick Lebredo is a certif‌i ed public

accountant. He has obtained a Ph.D in

public affairs at the University of Central

Florida. He has taught college-level courses

in economics, statistics, and business

administration. He is interested in sustain-

ability management in the public sector.

E-mail: nleb@knights.ucf.edu

Evan M. Berman is Distinguished

University Professor and Director of

the International Doctoral Program in

Asia-Pacif‌i c Studies at National Chengchi

University (Taiwan), one of Asia’s leading

universities. His areas of expertise include

public management, local government,

and HRM. He is founding editor of ASPA’s

book series in Public Administration and

Public Policy and is senior editor of Public

Performance and Management

Review.

E-mail: evanmberman@gmail.com

Capacity to Sustain Sustainability: A Study of U.S. Cities 841

Public Administration Review,

Vol. 72, Iss. 6, pp. 841–853. © 2012 by

The American Society for Public Administration.

DOI: 10.111/j.1540-6210.2012.02566.x.

XiaoHu Wang

City University of Hong Kong, China

Christopher V. Hawkins

Nick Lebredo

University of Central Florida

Evan M. Berman

National Chengchi University, Taiwan

Why do some governments implement more sustainability

practices than others? Based on a national survey of U.S.

cities, this article f‌i nds moderate levels of sustainability

ef‌f orts and capacity in U.S. cities; about one-third of the

sustainability practices identif‌i ed in this article have been

implemented.  e authors conclude that, f‌i rst, capacity

building is a useful conceptual focus for understanding

sustainability implementation in U.S. cities. Capacity

building involves developing technical and f‌i nancial

support and increasing managerial execution. Second,

sustainability is strongly associated with managerial

capacity, which includes establishing sustainability

goals, incorporating goals in operations, and developing

a supportive infrastructure.  ird, getting stakeholders

involved furthers the capacity for sustaining sustainability

ef‌f orts. Citizen involvement is strongly associated with

securing f‌i nancial support for sustainability.

Sustainability practices in the U.S. public sector

have received scholarly attention for some time

(Feiock 2004; Mazmanian and Kraft 2009;

Ostrom 1990; Portney 2003). Recently, there have

been calls to consider sustainability as a fundamental

guiding principle in public management, for example,

as a “conceptual focus for public administration”

(Fiorino 2010), a “new direction for public adminis-

tration” (Leuenberger and Bartle 2009), and a “domi-

nant policy paradigm” (Saha and Paterson 2008).

U.S. cities have been at the center of sustainability

initiatives for decades, and as such, they have been the

subject of multiple studies. Descriptive studies have

been conducted to identify various policies, initia-

tives, techniques, and impediments in sustainability

(Jepson 2004; Saha and Paterson 2008). Studies

have also explored the factors that inf‌l uence sustain-

ability, namely, by focusing on a key question posed

by Portney (2003): why is it that some cities take

sustainability seriously and others don’t? Studies have

found that local sustainability is tied to local govern-

ments’ need to deal with environmental pressures and

the characteristics of local governance (Betsill and

Bulkeley 2006; Feiock and Bae 2011; Feiock, Tavares,

and Lubell 2008; Krause 2010; Lubell, Feiock,

and Ramirez de la Cruz 2009; O’Connell 2009).

Additionally, studies have found contextual inf‌l u-

ences on sustainability, such as resource availability

(Kahn 2006; Lubell, Feiock, and Handy 2009) and

socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the

population (Saha 2009).

Recently, however, an emerging literature has started

looking into the implementation of sustainability

initiatives in government. More specif‌i cally, the

literature has emphasized the strong role of stake-

holder involvement in sustainability (Conroy and

Berke 2004; Portney 2005; Portney and Berry 2010;

Sharp, Daley, and Lynch 2011). Despite this imple-

mentation focus, no study has ever been conducted to

understand how the dynamic process of implementa-

tion works in local sustainability—that is, whether

and how various organizational strategies are adopted

to enhance organizational capacity in sustainability

implementation.  is article examines sustainability

implementation and focuses on its dynamic, interac-

tive, and collaborative nature.  e following research

questions are addressed: What strategies are used by

cities to develop organizational capacity for sustain-

ability? Do these strategies improve organizational

capacity to implement sustainability practices? Does

the capacity enhance sustainability in cities, and if so,

in what manner?

 is article enriches the literature by providing a

capacity-building explanation for sustainability behav-

iors at the local level. Whereas the previous literature

focused on drivers and motives of sustainability, this

article emphasizes organizational capacity and incor-

porates inf‌l uencing factors that further this capacity.

Perhaps more importantly, the results assist public

managers in developing strategies that build organi-

zational capacity for a more sustainable community.

It should, as Fiorino (2010) urges, facilitate mov-

ing the discussion on sustainability forward toward

how to best help public sector decision makers with

implementation.

Capacity to Sustain Sustainability: A Study of U.S. Cities