35
city governments, away from their direct oversight or control” (Final Results of Sunset Reviews
2012–2013). Part of the outcome of the sunset
review by the state was to replace all board members of the Port of Houston, except for its chairperson. The state also appointed an additional
seat on the commission. The purpose of this additional seat was primarily to manage the multimodal implications of the regional activity across
the Port of Houston.
These sustainability issues stemming from
fragmented governance are also highlighted in
other sectors in the Houston region, such as k-12
education, healthcare accessibility, food accessibility, and natural hazard resilience. In the k-12
education sector, the Houston Independent
School District (HISD) is currently slated for
state takeover. The Texas Education Agency
(TEA) commissioner has announced plans on
replacing the school board based on school performance and board governance issues (Texas
Education Agency 2019). Related issues in the
k-12 sectors include preparing students to fill the
growing workforce skills gap identified by
Houston area companies. In 2014, the Greater
Houston Partnership initiated an industry-led
task force and subsequently a program called
UpSkill Houston to develop intervention strategies to bridge the skills and training gap (Greater
Houston Partnership 2014). In the natural hazard
resilience sector, the governor of Texas recently
withheld $4.3 billion in federal mitigation funding instead of direct appropriations to the City of
Houston for local management (Wallace 2019).
Food and healthcare access have not yet had state
intervention. Part of the reason may be that these
two areas represent sectors that are wholly privatized. However, a review of the region’s performance in these sectors will highlight additional
growing issues. Houston is ranked 92nd out of
the top 100 metros in the country with regard to
food insecurity. Houston is ranked 97th on access
to healthcare and 89th on access to primary care
physicians. These last two point to clear disparities between our rank and performance in comparison to other areas in the country and the fact
that the Texas Medical Center, located centrally
in Houston, is the largest medical center in the
world.
4.4
Houston’s Development
Performance on the SDGs
Across the 15 SDGs and 44 metrics used in this
study, the Houston metro did not compare very
well when compared to the top 100 metros in the
country. Houston ranked in the bottom half of all
metros used in this study on 31 of the 44 measures. Houston ranked in the top 20 metros for
two measures. On SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and
Communities, Houston ranked 13th for housing
affordability; and on SDG 5 Gender Equality,
Houston ranked 15th for number of womenowned businesses (Table 4.3).
The Houston metro has another 10 years to
reach the 2030 SDGs. Beginning in 2020, our
research team will engage major industries and
local governments in the region to develop a
10-year plan of action to become more sustainable by 2030. The following section presents
Houston’s performance on each of the 15 SDGs.
We highlight the leading metro for each of the
Table 4.2 Governance bodies in the Port of Houston
industrial region
Port of Houston governance entities (partial list)
1. Counties – Harris County, Galveston County,
Chambers County
2. Cities – Houston, Galena Park, Pasadena,
Shoreacres, La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Seabrook,
Deer Park, Galveston Bay, Channelview,
Cloverleaf, Highlands, Baytown, Beach City, South
Houston, Jacinto City, Taylor Lake Village, El
Lago, Sheldon, Barrett
3. Industrial Districts: Houston IND Dist, Pasadena
IND Dist, Deer Park IND Dist, La Porte IND Dist,
Baytown, IND Dist
4. Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) – COH MUDs,
Harris County Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs),
Fresh Water Supply Districts (FWSDs), Water
Control and Improvement Districts (WCIDs)
4 The Idea of Sustainability to Evaluate Growth and Development in the Houston Region
city governments, away from their direct oversight or control” (Final Results of Sunset Reviews
2012–2013). Part of the outcome of the sunset
review by the state was to replace all board members of the Port of Houston, except for its chairperson. The state also appointed an additional
seat on the commission. The purpose of this additional seat was primarily to manage the multimodal implications of the regional activity across
the Port of Houston.
These sustainability issues stemming from
fragmented governance are also highlighted in
other sectors in the Houston region, such as k-12
education, healthcare accessibility, food accessibility, and natural hazard resilience. In the k-12
education sector, the Houston Independent
School District (HISD) is currently slated for
state takeover. The Texas Education Agency
(TEA) commissioner has announced plans on
replacing the school board based on school performance and board governance issues (Texas
Education Agency 2019). Related issues in the
k-12 sectors include preparing students to fill the
growing workforce skills gap identified by
Houston area companies. In 2014, the Greater
Houston Partnership initiated an industry-led
task force and subsequently a program called
UpSkill Houston to develop intervention strategies to bridge the skills and training gap (Greater
Houston Partnership 2014). In the natural hazard
resilience sector, the governor of Texas recently
withheld $4.3 billion in federal mitigation funding instead of direct appropriations to the City of
Houston for local management (Wallace 2019).
Food and healthcare access have not yet had state
intervention. Part of the reason may be that these
two areas represent sectors that are wholly privatized. However, a review of the region’s performance in these sectors will highlight additional
growing issues. Houston is ranked 92nd out of
the top 100 metros in the country with regard to
food insecurity. Houston is ranked 97th on access
to healthcare and 89th on access to primary care
physicians. These last two point to clear disparities between our rank and performance in comparison to other areas in the country and the fact
that the Texas Medical Center, located centrally
in Houston, is the largest medical center in the
world.
4.4
Houston’s Development
Performance on the SDGs
Across the 15 SDGs and 44 metrics used in this
study, the Houston metro did not compare very
well when compared to the top 100 metros in the
country. Houston ranked in the bottom half of all
metros used in this study on 31 of the 44 measures. Houston ranked in the top 20 metros for
two measures. On SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and
Communities, Houston ranked 13th for housing
affordability; and on SDG 5 Gender Equality,
Houston ranked 15th for number of womenowned businesses (Table 4.3).
The Houston metro has another 10 years to
reach the 2030 SDGs. Beginning in 2020, our
research team will engage major industries and
local governments in the region to develop a
10-year plan of action to become more sustainable by 2030. The following section presents
Houston’s performance on each of the 15 SDGs.
We highlight the leading metro for each of the
Table 4.2 Governance bodies in the Port of Houston
industrial region
Port of Houston governance entities (partial list)
1. Counties – Harris County, Galveston County,
Chambers County
2. Cities – Houston, Galena Park, Pasadena,
Shoreacres, La Porte, Morgan’s Point, Seabrook,
Deer Park, Galveston Bay, Channelview,
Cloverleaf, Highlands, Baytown, Beach City, South
Houston, Jacinto City, Taylor Lake Village, El
Lago, Sheldon, Barrett
3. Industrial Districts: Houston IND Dist, Pasadena
IND Dist, Deer Park IND Dist, La Porte IND Dist,
Baytown, IND Dist
4. Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) – COH MUDs,
Harris County Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs),
Fresh Water Supply Districts (FWSDs), Water
Control and Improvement Districts (WCIDs)
4 The Idea of Sustainability to Evaluate Growth and Development in the Houston Region