96
SDG Cities Index. The second method has
involved local community mapping of existing
indicators and metrics to the SDGs and the identification of relevant local proxies (as in San Jose,
New York, Baltimore, and Los Angeles).
While the centralized, top-down approach has
piqued high-level political interest, in large part
thanks to media coverage, and is encouraging
constructive competition among cities, the indicators used within the index are themselves too
high level as to be useful for much of the day-today monitoring and administration of city halls.
Furthermore, there are acute data gaps, partly
resulting from diverse monitoring methods across
cities, which local governments and stakeholders
will need to fill to make the framework useful.
In San Jose, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and
New York, the engagement of a broad range of
city stakeholders and the consensual approach to
SDG implementing and monitoring has helped to
raise awareness about the SDGs and foster local
buy-in and has eased integration of the SDGs into
existing city plans, but it will only drive more
ambitious monitoring and policy change if subsequent analysis is done to see what SDG dimensions are excluded and how they can be integrated
and prioritized over time.
Lessons from both of these exercises show the
utility of the SDG framework and its associated
indicators for encouraging more ambitious and
comprehensive sustainable development monitoring and for encouraging Mayoral engagement;
however they also point to the necessity to
employ a two-pronged approach to subnational
monitoring of the SDGs, involving the use of
headline political indicators to sustain political
interest and attention, as well as more nuanced
city-specific proxies to support implementation
of local policies and programs.
Jessica Espey is a Senior Advisor to the United Nations
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN),
based in London, UK, and is the Director of SDSN
TReNDS, the SDSN’s expert group on data. With
TReNDS, Jessica’s research explores how new forms of
data and technology can be harnessed to support sustainable development outcomes. TReNDS is particularly
interested in building capacity in national statistical systems so they are able to capitalize on the data revolution.
Jessica is a member of the Global Partnership for
Sustainable Development Data’s Technical Advisory
Group and the Group on Earth Observation’s Expert
Advisory Board. Having previously worked on sustainable urban development, she has also just served as official liaison for the Scientific Steering Committee of the
IPCC Conference on Cities and Climate Change. Prior to
joining SDSN, Jessica served as a special adviser on the
post-2015 agenda within the Office of the President of
Liberia, supporting the work of the High-Level Panel of
Eminent Persons (of which President Sirleaf was cochair) and the development of the Common African
Position on the Post-2015 Agenda. She has also worked as
a senior researcher at Save the Children UK, the Overseas
Development Institute (ODI), and the British Institute in
Eastern Africa (BIEA). Jessica is a current Doctoral
Candidate at the University of Bristol. She also holds a
Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Modern History
from the University of Oxford and a Master of Sciences
degree in the Political Economy of Development from the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London. She has lived and worked in Liberia, Kenya,
Rwanda, the UK, and the USA.
J. Espey
SDG Cities Index. The second method has
involved local community mapping of existing
indicators and metrics to the SDGs and the identification of relevant local proxies (as in San Jose,
New York, Baltimore, and Los Angeles).
While the centralized, top-down approach has
piqued high-level political interest, in large part
thanks to media coverage, and is encouraging
constructive competition among cities, the indicators used within the index are themselves too
high level as to be useful for much of the day-today monitoring and administration of city halls.
Furthermore, there are acute data gaps, partly
resulting from diverse monitoring methods across
cities, which local governments and stakeholders
will need to fill to make the framework useful.
In San Jose, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and
New York, the engagement of a broad range of
city stakeholders and the consensual approach to
SDG implementing and monitoring has helped to
raise awareness about the SDGs and foster local
buy-in and has eased integration of the SDGs into
existing city plans, but it will only drive more
ambitious monitoring and policy change if subsequent analysis is done to see what SDG dimensions are excluded and how they can be integrated
and prioritized over time.
Lessons from both of these exercises show the
utility of the SDG framework and its associated
indicators for encouraging more ambitious and
comprehensive sustainable development monitoring and for encouraging Mayoral engagement;
however they also point to the necessity to
employ a two-pronged approach to subnational
monitoring of the SDGs, involving the use of
headline political indicators to sustain political
interest and attention, as well as more nuanced
city-specific proxies to support implementation
of local policies and programs.
Jessica Espey is a Senior Advisor to the United Nations
Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN),
based in London, UK, and is the Director of SDSN
TReNDS, the SDSN’s expert group on data. With
TReNDS, Jessica’s research explores how new forms of
data and technology can be harnessed to support sustainable development outcomes. TReNDS is particularly
interested in building capacity in national statistical systems so they are able to capitalize on the data revolution.
Jessica is a member of the Global Partnership for
Sustainable Development Data’s Technical Advisory
Group and the Group on Earth Observation’s Expert
Advisory Board. Having previously worked on sustainable urban development, she has also just served as official liaison for the Scientific Steering Committee of the
IPCC Conference on Cities and Climate Change. Prior to
joining SDSN, Jessica served as a special adviser on the
post-2015 agenda within the Office of the President of
Liberia, supporting the work of the High-Level Panel of
Eminent Persons (of which President Sirleaf was cochair) and the development of the Common African
Position on the Post-2015 Agenda. She has also worked as
a senior researcher at Save the Children UK, the Overseas
Development Institute (ODI), and the British Institute in
Eastern Africa (BIEA). Jessica is a current Doctoral
Candidate at the University of Bristol. She also holds a
Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Modern History
from the University of Oxford and a Master of Sciences
degree in the Political Economy of Development from the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London. She has lived and worked in Liberia, Kenya,
Rwanda, the UK, and the USA.
J. Espey