New in Local Government Studies: Schwarz (2025): Urban sustainability in Germany: which factors can explain the variety of commitment?

German cities differ significantly in their use of multidimensional, integrated sustainability instruments. However, they face few legal obligations or incentives to engage with sustainability at all. This raises the question: Which factors can explain the variation in commitment?

Using cross-sectional regression analyses, the study examines the influence of socioeconomic, institutional, and political factors on the sustainability engagement of 188 German cities in 2021. To measure sustainability engagement, an index was created based on the newly collected USUSCO dataset.

The results show that a consensus-oriented form of municipal governance, historical ties to the Agenda 21 movement, a high proportion of seats held by left-wing parties and independent voter groups, urbanity, and the preferences of the city’s population lead to strong sustainability engagement. In contrast, the party affiliation of mayors, problem pressure, or financial resources have no significant effects.

Interestingly, these findings differ in part from those related to local climate policy.

The article is available open access at: https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2025.2538835