Richard C. Feiock, Christopher Coutts, Florida State University

The term “sustainable city” is now an inescapable part of the urban studies lexicon, but what does it mean in practice to be a sustainable city? The answer, of course, depends on to whom and in what context the question is asked. In fact, recent work suggests that local elected officials and local government administrators define and pursue sustainability in very different ways (Francis and Feiock, 2011; Zeemering, 2009).