Cities are sustainability leaders in the U.S. but there is little understanding about how to best administer these local efforts

Despite the often loud rhetoric of those who are opposed to measures to mitigate climate change and sustainability in general, almost 65 percent of America’s large cities have put in place explicit sustainability initiatives. How and where sustainability is administered within a city’s bureaucracy is important as it can affect its functioning and performance. In new research which analyzes data from over 400 cities, Rachel M. Krause finds that sustainability administration and coordination is most often headquartered in public works or environmental services departments. The location of a city’s sustainability administration is not influenced by a city’s form of government or the support of local interest groups, but how city council members are elected can be important.