22
lic and specific mayoral commitment to the SDGs
is uncommon in the USA and immediately put
Los Angeles in the forefront of local implementation globally. Mayor Garcetti committed the city
to the SDGs in a public speech to his constituents, rather than a global forum of international
leaders, the more usual platform for local leaders
to endorse the SDGs.
Adopting the SDGs is easy. The aspirations
that illuminate the agenda are attractive to any
locality and make for soaring political rhetoric:
an end to poverty and its related indignities; an
increase in quality jobs, needed infrastructure,
and affordable housing; and a reduction in
inequality, all while ensuring a sustainable environment for future generations.
Serious implementation to achieve the
SDGs is much more difficult. The 17 goals
cover the full breadth of development, with
169 targets, most of them time-bound and outcome-oriented. The agenda exposes interdependencies among different dimensions of
development and requires progress on multiple
fronts simultaneously. Charting progress
toward its goals with publicly visible data
exposes the full breadth of a government’s successes and shortfalls. The SDGs also set expectations at a level that goes beyond the capability
of a local government’s resources, requiring
city officials to attract and align the contributions of multiple major stakeholders.
The commitment to pursue the SDGs
reflects an ambitious political vision for Los
Angeles. Since the SDGs were designed for
national implementation and measurement, cities interested in the SDGs as the basis for local
progress must blaze their own trail as they
align community plans against the goals. This
case study reviews the first year of LA’s implementation of the SDGs. It explores the incentives for pursuing the goals and analyzes the
steps that Los Angeles has taken to align with
the SDGs and measure its social, economic,
and environmental progress. It surfaces lessons
for other cities considering the use of the SDGs
as a blueprint for community progress and
ends with recommendations for LA’s next
steps.
3.2
Background: City of Los
Angeles
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the USA,
with a population of more than four million people within its city limits. It is one of the most
diverse metropolitan areas in the USA. Its city
government manages a budget of $9.9 billion
3
and employs approximately 64,000 people. In
2017 it was estimated to have the third largest
metropolitan economy in the world, roughly
equivalent to the size of Turkey’s economic
output.
4
While a growing, thriving city, Los Angeles
also faces tough urban challenges. Homelessness
in the city and county increased by 75% over the
6 years leading into 2018, with the city ranking
near the bottom in sheltering its homeless relative
to its US peers.
5
The city’s poverty rate in 2017
topped 20%,
6
more than eight percentage points
above the country’s poverty rate. In 2018, it
reported a record 87 consecutive days straight of
unhealthy ozone levels,
7
and it has a history of
ranking first globally for traffic congestion in an
annual ranking of gridlocked cities.
8
The city government does not have primary
managerial control for public services with
regard to major parts of the SDG agenda. Los
Angeles County, within which the city sits,
adopted a budget of $32 billion for 2018–2019
and operates the public hospitals and clinics. The
3 City of Los Angeles, Open Budget. 2019. Retrieved from
http://openbudget.lacity.org/#!/year/default
4 How the Economic Power of American Cities Compares
to Countries (2017, November 12). Retrieved from
https://howmuch.net/articles/the-economic-size-of-metroareas-compared-to-countries
5 Holland, G. (2018, February 1). L.A.’s homelessness
surged 75% in 6 years. Here’s why the crisis has been
decades in the making. The Los Angeles Times
6 US Census Bureau, Population Estimates 2018. Retrieved
from
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/
losangelescitycalifornia
7 Barboza, T. (2018, September 21). 87 Days of Smog:
Southern California Just Saw Its Longest Streak of Bad
Air in Decades. Los Angeles Times
8 Los Angeles Tops INRIX Global Congestion Ranking
(2018, February 5). Retrieved from http://inrix.com/pressreleases/scorecard-2017/
T. Pipa
lic and specific mayoral commitment to the SDGs
is uncommon in the USA and immediately put
Los Angeles in the forefront of local implementation globally. Mayor Garcetti committed the city
to the SDGs in a public speech to his constituents, rather than a global forum of international
leaders, the more usual platform for local leaders
to endorse the SDGs.
Adopting the SDGs is easy. The aspirations
that illuminate the agenda are attractive to any
locality and make for soaring political rhetoric:
an end to poverty and its related indignities; an
increase in quality jobs, needed infrastructure,
and affordable housing; and a reduction in
inequality, all while ensuring a sustainable environment for future generations.
Serious implementation to achieve the
SDGs is much more difficult. The 17 goals
cover the full breadth of development, with
169 targets, most of them time-bound and outcome-oriented. The agenda exposes interdependencies among different dimensions of
development and requires progress on multiple
fronts simultaneously. Charting progress
toward its goals with publicly visible data
exposes the full breadth of a government’s successes and shortfalls. The SDGs also set expectations at a level that goes beyond the capability
of a local government’s resources, requiring
city officials to attract and align the contributions of multiple major stakeholders.
The commitment to pursue the SDGs
reflects an ambitious political vision for Los
Angeles. Since the SDGs were designed for
national implementation and measurement, cities interested in the SDGs as the basis for local
progress must blaze their own trail as they
align community plans against the goals. This
case study reviews the first year of LA’s implementation of the SDGs. It explores the incentives for pursuing the goals and analyzes the
steps that Los Angeles has taken to align with
the SDGs and measure its social, economic,
and environmental progress. It surfaces lessons
for other cities considering the use of the SDGs
as a blueprint for community progress and
ends with recommendations for LA’s next
steps.
3.2
Background: City of Los
Angeles
Los Angeles is the second largest city in the USA,
with a population of more than four million people within its city limits. It is one of the most
diverse metropolitan areas in the USA. Its city
government manages a budget of $9.9 billion
3
and employs approximately 64,000 people. In
2017 it was estimated to have the third largest
metropolitan economy in the world, roughly
equivalent to the size of Turkey’s economic
output.
4
While a growing, thriving city, Los Angeles
also faces tough urban challenges. Homelessness
in the city and county increased by 75% over the
6 years leading into 2018, with the city ranking
near the bottom in sheltering its homeless relative
to its US peers.
5
The city’s poverty rate in 2017
topped 20%,
6
more than eight percentage points
above the country’s poverty rate. In 2018, it
reported a record 87 consecutive days straight of
unhealthy ozone levels,
7
and it has a history of
ranking first globally for traffic congestion in an
annual ranking of gridlocked cities.
8
The city government does not have primary
managerial control for public services with
regard to major parts of the SDG agenda. Los
Angeles County, within which the city sits,
adopted a budget of $32 billion for 2018–2019
and operates the public hospitals and clinics. The
3 City of Los Angeles, Open Budget. 2019. Retrieved from
http://openbudget.lacity.org/#!/year/default
4 How the Economic Power of American Cities Compares
to Countries (2017, November 12). Retrieved from
https://howmuch.net/articles/the-economic-size-of-metroareas-compared-to-countries
5 Holland, G. (2018, February 1). L.A.’s homelessness
surged 75% in 6 years. Here’s why the crisis has been
decades in the making. The Los Angeles Times
6 US Census Bureau, Population Estimates 2018. Retrieved
from
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/
losangelescitycalifornia
7 Barboza, T. (2018, September 21). 87 Days of Smog:
Southern California Just Saw Its Longest Streak of Bad
Air in Decades. Los Angeles Times
8 Los Angeles Tops INRIX Global Congestion Ranking
(2018, February 5). Retrieved from http://inrix.com/pressreleases/scorecard-2017/
T. Pipa