How Local Governments Have Become a Factor in Global Sustainability

Abstract

Growing population and urbanization are increasing the relevance of cities and local governments to the problems of sustainability. Half of the world’s population now lives in cities, a share that is projected to increase to 75 percent within the next 30 years or so. A city such as Mumbai, India, governs more people than any of the 150 smallest United Nations (UN) member states. This intensifying urbanization will require the construction, within the next 40 years, of urban capacity, buildings, and infrastructure equal to all that has been built in the last 4,000 years.¹