Author(s)

J. M. Prado, I. M. García & B. Cuadrado

Abstract

The implementation of urban sustainability practices is affected by political obstacles, in that the policy or the objectives sought either involve the deflection of resources initially allocated to other groups or are contrary to the concerns pursued by interest groups who have the power to veto them by exerting pressure on the party in power. In this sense, the aim of this paper is to evidence the impact that political factors have on cities’ sustainability, and the effect of the latter on cities’ business development. The results obtained showed that political competition has a positive effect on cities’ sustainability, while a leftist ideology has an inverse impact. On the other hand, a significant direct relationship has been observed between urban sustainability and municipal economic activity. Keywords: urban sustainability, city's quality of life level (QOL), economic development, sustainable development, social sustainability, sustainability practices, political factors. 1 Introduction In the 1980s and 1990s, cities contributed to the growth and development of the global economy but, paradoxically, did little to provide a basis for long-term sustainable urban growth (Konvitz [1]). Their behaviours are quite contradictory since cities’ sustainability widely impacts business recruitment and investment (Glaser [2]; Insch and Florek [3]), parameters that could have a positive feedback effect on QOL. Political factors are one of the obstacles to the implementation of urban sustainability practices. In this sense, Hogwood and Gunn [4] argue that the policy or the objectives sought could involve a deflection of resources initially

Keywords

urban sustainability, city's quality of life level (QOL), economic development, sustainable development, social sustainability, sustainability practices, political factors