Editorial: Sustainable Democracy, Development and Environmental Policies

Main Article Content

Steve Martin
Alison Brown

Abstract

Urbanisation, climate change, footloose economies, multi-culturality and resource constraints pose unprecedented challenges for local governments today. In the developing world the gulf between needs and finance remains acute. Many western countries forced to reduce public spending in the wake of the sovereign debt crisis, are struggling to reconcile the need for efficiency savings with local pressure to maintain service standards and working conditions. This special double issue of the journal features a selection of papers presented at the third Commonwealth Local Government Research Colloquium held in Cardiff on 13-15 March 2011 which explored these and other important contemporary challenges. Hosted by the School of City and Regional Planning and the Centre for Local and Regional Government Research at Cardiff University, the colloquium provided a valuable opportunity for scholars from across the Commonwealth to present research on three key themes: sustainable democracy and governance, sustainable economic development and environmental sustainability.

Article Details

How to Cite
Martin, S., & Brown, A. (1). Editorial: Sustainable Democracy, Development and Environmental Policies. Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, (8-9). https://doi.org/10.5130/cjlg.v0i8/9.2407
Section
Editorial
Author Biographies

Steve Martin, Centre for Local & Regional Government Research, Cardiff University

Steve Martin is Professor of Public Policy and Management and Director of the Centre for Local & Regional Government Research. Steve’s research interests are in public policy evaluation and public service improvement and he is acknowledged as one of the UK’s leading academic experts on local government policy. He has published more 50 papers in leading refereed academic journals, authored 30 book chapters and written in excess of 100 commissioned reports. He has a long and successful research track record of directing large scale research programmes which have been funded by a range of agencies in the UK and internationally including: the Economic and Social Research Council, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Leverhulme Trust, a range of central government departments, the Scottish Executive, Welsh Assembly Government, European Commission, Audit Commission, Accounts Commission, the Improvement and Development Agency, Standards Board and the Local Government Association. Steve is Associate Editor of Local Government Studies and a member of the editorial boards of Public Money and Management and Solace Foundation Imprint. He has been a Director of the Improvement and Development Agency since 2002, is co-chair of the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Local and Regional Government Research Network and was recently appointed to the board of the New Local Government Network.

Alison Brown, Cardiff School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University

Alison Brown is a Professor (part-time) at the School of City and Regional Planning, Cardiff University. She is Course Director for the MSc in International Planning and Development, and has extensive professional experience in the international and UK fields. Her areas of expertise include planning practice, international planning in emerging economies, and the informal economy. She has overseas experience in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and current projects include comparative research on poverty reduction in low income cities, and work for local authorities, NGOs and private clients in the UK. She is a member of the steering committee of UN-HABITAT’s World Urban Campaign. She is the urban planning advisor on DFID's Technology, Infrastructure and Urban Planning Resource Centre, managed by WSP International. She is a consultant to the UNESCO/UN-HABITAT project on Urban Policies and the Right to the City, a member of the UNESCO expert team for the project on Migrants in the City, and planning advisor to WIEGO on their Inclusive Cities Project. Research Interests: Planning practice in emerging cities, spatial planning, the management of informal economies, particularly street and market trade, and the impacts of globalisation on the informal economy. Recent research and academic projects on public space and urban livelihoods, the impact of the China-Africa trade on urban markets, and the right to the city.