A theoretical approach to urban environmental governance in times of change

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the ideal meaning of good governance for cities sustainability, basing itself on the international consensus of governance as the most important issue when facing urban environmental problems. Design/methodology/approach - Focusing on urban environmental problems and based on discussions about environmental governance and sustainability carried out throughout the last decades, the paper recognizes that the discussions on environmental governance, although presenting converging ideas and some successful examples, are still to convey a definitive framework as a base to be followed and consolidated. For this reason, it aims to offer a theoretical framework for handling urban environmental governance, as well as an approach that allows one to recognize ways for an appropriate assessment of cities sustainability. Findings - The results of the analysis suggest that, while the notion of governance offers a direction in researches addressing the study of institutions and of the interaction between governmental and non-governmental actors, there is still a lack of applicable and appropriate models to achieve good governance in a democratic way, especially in developing countries. Another important conclusion lies in the perception that, for knowledge construction purposes, as well as for structure policies and measurement of society's achievements towards a more sustainable development, urban environmental governance indicators are a helpful and thoroughly necessary tool. Originality/value - Developing an urban environmental governance assessment model allows for comparisons in between analytical results of projects implemented or under implementation, creating a scientific basis for designing sustainable institutional arrangements in future projects.