ABSTRACT
Cities have always been important for their concentration of people, investment and ideas. At their best they are centres of vitality, diversity and aspiration; also places where the ideal of the common good can be most fully realized. In the absence of effective governance, they can, of course, also be places where the common good is most dramatically violated, locally and globally. The dominant processes that drive cities' economic success, especially investments in new or expanding businesses, do not of themselves produce healthy or sustainable or inclusive cities. Nor do they produce cities adapted to climate change, or cities that are keeping their greenhouse gas emissions low.
