Viewpoints: Improving cities' implementation of sustainability objectives

Cities are touted as leaders and innovators in sustainability policy, but face significant challenges with its implementation. Because objectives multifaceted they often do not align local governments' typical organizational structures, which compartmentalize expertise around core service functions. This mismatch lies at the heart of many cities' implementation struggles; broad initiatives require active contribution from multiple departments, externalities fuzzy boundaries responsibility stymie collaboration. Sustainability science recognizes need to think across disciplinary we argue that requires managing ones. Drawing mixed-methods research on US efforts, present a functional collective action framework identifies four internal administrative arrangements city governments use facilitate functionally transboundary We assess their relative effectiveness make case for an influential lead.