Sustainable cities: Do political factors determine the quality of life?

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. © 2010 WIT Press.