ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the contradictions between the ideals associated with Local Agenda 21, and the reality of the ongoing restructuring of local governance in the UK, which has weakened its capacity to respond positively to such a challenge. LA21 includes an explicit demand for democratic participation in the creation and implementation of policies for sustainable development at the local level, and assumes that the elected system of local government will play a leading role. In the UK, however, local government has undergone a process of restructuring which has weakened the role of local authorities and reduced the scope for public participation in decisions about the provision of local services and local policy making in general.
