The Sustainability of an Entrepreneurial City?

The paper applies an urban political ecology approach to interrogating the use of sustainability constructs by key international governance agencies. We draw on political economy of urban sustainability to identify central themes in the reports to reveal limitations and contradictions in the deployment of the environmental sustainability construct. We argue that the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Bank offer little towards the development of a new vision for future cities, only affirmation of neoliberal urbanism. Promisingly, some of ‘key trends’ identified by UN-Habitat will enhance the democratic content of socio-environmental construction. This will achieve a more equitable distribution of social power and inclusive mode of environmental production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]