The city and international law: in pursuit of sustainable development.

AuthorPorras, Ileana M.

"The battle for sustainable development will almost certainly be decided in cities.... We need cities in good shape, wisely using their resources in an innovative and sustainable way, cities for all, for us today and for future generations." (1)

Introduction I. The Internationalization of Cities A. The City and the Promise of Community B. Leaving the State Behind--The Forging of Local-International Relations 1. Decentralization--In Search of Democratization 2. Globalization, Subsidiarity and the City C. Privatization and the City D. Conclusion II. The Localization of Sustainable Development A. The Geography of Sustainable Development B. Short History of Local Sustainable Development--Local Agenda 21 C. Sustainable Development, Community and Public Participation III. The Convergence of Two Trends: Cities Embrace Sustainable Development A. Sustainable Development and the City B. Sustainable Cities? IV. Problems of the City-Sustainable Development Conjunction A. Privatization and the City B. Scales of Sustainable Development C. Equity and the Limits of Public Participation V. The Particular Case of Climate Change and Cities Conclusion INTRODUCTION

In the past few years, two seemingly unrelated trends have combined to turn the "city" (2) into the privileged international locus of sustainable development: the internationalization of cities and the localization of sustainable development. In this Article, I explore the conjunction of these two trends and argue that while on the one hand, there is something attractive about the willing engagement of cities in addressing sustainable development (and climate change), there are also inherent dangers in allowing the cities to take on the primary function of defining sustainable development.

In a series of articles published in 2006, legal scholars David Barron, Yishai Blank, and Gerald Frug identified and theorized a new phenomenon: the emergence of cities and transnational associations of cities as a new type of actor on the international stage. (3) As these authors have shown, cities, pursuing greater autonomy from the state, have sought in a variety of ways to become active players on the international stage. One strategy they have pursued is to band together to form international "non-governmental" organizations such as United Cities and Local Governments ("UCLG"), (4) in order to gain visibility and voice in a variety of international fora. Basing their arguments on the democratic potential of cities and on the claim that city government is the level of government closest to the people and therefore most responsive to their needs, such groups have advocated for greater decentralization and autonomy for cities. (5) The cities' assertion of the desirability of greater autonomy has been well received by the international community, (6) which has embraced the city as an alternative interlocutor to the state. Together, cities and international organizations have promoted adoption of the principle of subsidiarity, borrowed from its European context, while, in parallel they have sought to encourage the funneling of international resources, including foreign direct investment, directly to cities, both of which tend to empower the city vis-a-vis the state. (7) Because cities, unlike traditional non-governmental organizations ("NGOs"), are able to lay claim to representative legitimacy, they have emerged as a favored actor within the umbrella of international civil society representatives. (8) Paradoxically, however, in the new world order, cities--despite their democratic credentials--are increasingly losing their strong public government function as traditional public services are privatized and cities begin to resemble private corporations. (9) As cities seek greater autonomy from the state and more visibility on the international stage, they have perhaps unwittingly become a key conduit for the modern trend away from "government" towards "governance;" (10) a movement strongly encouraged by international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank, (11) and one that places them in an ideal position on the stage of sustainable development. (12)

The second trend is the localization of sustainable development--an increasing emphasis on sustainable development as a process that takes root in and through local implementation. The definitional ambiguity at the heart of the concept of sustainable development has been much commented upon. (13) However, one aspect of this ambiguity has perhaps not received sufficient attention: the tension between the global and the local. (14) The concept of sustainable development was born of the realization that the goals of environmental protection and economic and social development could not be achieved in isolation, and that while at times a trade-off would be needed between the values of economy, environment and equity, the way forward required a complex integration of policy-making at every level of government. (15) Sustainable development emerged from an international context which assumed the need for global cooperation, yet emphasized the primacy of state commitments and programs. From its inception, however, the concept of sustainable development was strongly associated with the demand for public participation. (16) Given the common perception that the terrain most amenable to effective public participation is that of local decision-making, sustainable development has increasingly come to be considered a local matter.

The conjunction of these two trends, the internationalization of cities and the localization of sustainable development has transformed the city into a privileged locus of sustainable development. Cities, and in particular associations of cities, have found in sustainable development an attractive avenue for making themselves indispensable partners in the international arena. Meanwhile, the cities' strategy has found an echo among a host of international organizations, engaged in one way or another in the pursuit of sustainable development. The United Nations, the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the European Union, have all endorsed the proposition that cities are at the center of sustainable development, as both problem and solution. (17) The happy coincidence that the year 2008 marked the moment at which "Homo sapiens has become Homo urbanus" (18)--the moment at which half of the world's population could be claimed to be living in cities (19)--placed the cities in a seemingly unassailable position. As the world's attention has turned from the cumbersome complexity of sustainable development to the more pressing (and in some sense more promising) concern with finding a "solution" to climate change, the world's cities have been left holding the torch of hope.

In this Article, I identify and explore some of the problems and limitations implicit in this approach from the point of view of achieving global sustainable development that addresses the needs of the world's most vulnerable populations. That cities North and South are disproportionate contributors to global ecological dysfunction and, not coincidentally, the sites of a significant proportion of economically productive activity is not in dispute. It is beyond doubt that cities--with their economies of scale, relative concentration of wealth, people, businesses, and educational institutions--have much to contribute to the pursuit of sustainable development and to the response to climate change. Less clear is whether cities alone can deliver. The problems can be roughly divided into three categories. First, there is the problem with cities--in particular, the problem that cities are becoming increasingly privatized which erodes their public function and tends to diminish any sense of community. Second, there is the problem of the scale(s) of sustainable development--in particular, the problem of the extra-territorial responsibility implied by the recognition of the ecological footprint of Northern cities. Third, there is the problem of politics, community, and the practices of public participation--in particular, the need to recognize that since it requires trade-offs, sustainable development is a political decision, and that the communities of interest will be determined by the understanding of sustainable development employed.

In pointing to these limitations I do not mean to imply that cities should not be at the forefront of the pursuit of sustainable development or in seeking meaningful responses to climate change. Rather, I hope that identifying the problems inherent in leaving sustainable development up to the cities, will not only help cities improve their sustainable development policies, but will give the international community pause about the wisdom of seeking to bypass the state in the pursuit of sustainable development.

In Part I of this Article, I address a recent trend I have characterized as the internationalization of cities. Part I begins with a discussion of the traditional view of the state-city relationship as a purely domestic matter in which the balance between local autonomy and state power is periodically redrawn. Drawing on the recent work of legal scholars Frug, Barron, and Blank, I explore the development of an international localist agenda for greater local autonomy promoted by international associations of cities such as UCLG whose sphere of activity is the international. The cities' agenda, I argue, has been well received by international organizations pursuing a liberal internationalist agenda because of a coincidence of values and interests. Cities, relying on a long standing tradition of being the site of self-governing community, and asserting their status as the level of government closest to the people, have convinced the international community that they offer an alternative site of democratization beyond the state. Part I next focuses on...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT