ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to explain, by analysing the intervening variables, why in some cities civil society is more developed and the socio-ecological transition is more advanced than in others. Institutional conditions are identified under which 'best practice' examples have evolved which are presented to prepare replicability elsewhere. In the governance of urban green spaces, the local authority has a high level of autonomy, compared to the energy and water systems. Despite living in a globalised world, sustainability issues, especially in the governance of urban green spaces, have a local focus due to the nature of the resource system and its governance. The governance of urban green spaces, though embedded in a system of multilevel governance, is mainly determined by local factors and steered locally. A tight local budget in general and for urban green spaces in particular is in all regions the most often cited economic challenge.
