Implementing city sustainability: overcoming administrative silos to achieve functional collective action, Rachel M. Krause and Christopher V. Hawkins, Temple University Press, 2021, 269 pages
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Author | Hannah Lebovits |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/padm.12733 |
BOOK REVIEW
Implementing city sustainability: overcoming
administrative silos to achieve functional
collective action
Rachel M. Krause and Christopher V. Hawkins,
Temple University Press, 2021, 269 pages
Over the past two decades, cities have proven themselves to be highly interested in conceptualizing, discussing, and
creating policies to spur sustainability efforts (Portney & Berry, 2010). Though federal and state-level actions are also
necessary to promote all areas of sustainability, it is municipal and regional governments that are closest to modern-
day air, water, preservation, and growth concerns (Mazmanian & Kraft, 2009). In their book, Krause and Hawkins ask
how cities can best move past talking about sustainability and move toward action, especially considering the fact
that they can be highly fractured organizations with a number of competing goals and interests. Capacity to drive
sustainability is a key element in effective implementation (Wang et al., 2012) and through a series of case studies
and a network analysis, Krause and Hawkins suggest several different models cities might adopt to promote
sustainability-centric work.
The book begins with an overview that highlights the complexities of sustainability efforts, broadly, as well as
the unique challenges and opportunities of local governance when it comes to sustainability. It describes sustainabil-
ity as a collective action issue—something that lacks official and complete oversight from a single entity but that
impacts many stakeholders and organizations. Though there is a rich body of literature dedicated to understanding
and tackling collective action issues across institutions, the authors argue that there is a need to better
understand functional collective action (FCA) within a single organization, such as a city. After documenting which
cities in the country are already engaged in sustainability policy making, it is clear that implementation best practices
are needed.
But, before diving into the case studies, Krause and Hawkins further develop the concept of FCA. They narrow
the issue down to complexities related to the organization, the people, and the policies themselves. Externalities that
impact institutional collective action exist within a single organization or agency in an FCA model, they note. There-
fore, deeper understanding of what happens solely within local governments is warranted. To guide the reader
through these complexities, Krause and Hawkins take a deep dive into the ways eight cities implement sustainability
policies, with a focus on the models cities might use to promote internal success. Descriptive case studies and a net-
work analysis make up most of the rest of the book.
The case study cities fall into three primary categories, according to the authors. In the first model, a lead agency
takes on the mantle and either provides/coordinates services or has the power to direct other departments. The
authors split this model into centralized and decentralized forms—lead agency consolidation and lead agency coordi-
nation. The second model is a “relationships and bargaining”approach, where departments are required to work with
each other and facilitate internal efforts in a collaborative way. And finally, the third model is entirely decentralized
and integrates sustainability themes into several different agencies, without a singular agenda or a narrow view of
Received: 10 March 2021 Revised: 12 March 2021 Accepted: 12 March 2021
DOI: 10.1111/padm.12733
422 © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Public Admin. 2021;99:422–423.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/padm
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