88
the SDGs in local planning and monitoring local
progress; however local processes and data
sources vary considerably, and so the local data
generated is not directly comparable.
To support a more active comparison of progress across the USA and to encourage more cities
to take up the SDGs, SDSN also pioneered a US
Cities SDG Index.
4
The index, first launched in
2017, repeated in 2018 and 2019, aims to provide
a set of comparable metrics across the 100 largest
metropolitan areas in the USA, which show overarching progress on the Sustainable Development
Goals. The SDG Index enables us to see which US
cities and regions are faring well or performing
badly on specific goals. The Index consists of 44
indicators spanning 15 of the 17 SDGs. Goal 14 on
Life Below Water and Goal 17 on Partnership for
the Goals are excluded since they do not apply to
many US cities and/or data are insufficient.
Both of these approaches to local SDG monitoring have benefits and limitations. A national
index is advantageous in that it enables active
comparison, can help generate support for the
goals, can show areas that are underserved, and
can help direct federal political attention and
investment. Conversely a local, bottom-up
approach to monitoring enables cities to utilize
existing data resources and to map the alignment
of their current policies and planning to the goals;
it can also foster community engagement and buy
in. This chapter critically evaluates the benefits
and limitations of both approaches and makes
recommendations on how cities should approach
the challenge of local monitoring of the SDGs. It
draws heavily upon learning from the SDSN’s
USA Sustainable Cities Initiative, the preparation
of the SDSN’s US Cities Index 2017 and 2018,
4 Espey, Jessica, Dahmm, Hayden, and Laurie Manderino
(2018) Leaving No US Cities Behind: The U.S. Cities
SDG Index, Issue 2018, New York: UNSDSN. Available
at:
http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/
US-Cities-Index-Report.pdf and Prakash, Mihir, Teksoz,
Katerina, Espey, Jessica, Sachs, Jeffrey, Shank, Michael
and Guido Schmidt-Traub (2017) Achieving a Sustainable
Urban America, The U.S. Cities SDG Index 2017,
New York: UNSDSN. Available at: http://unsdsn.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/08/US-Cities-SDG-Index-2017.pdf
and SDSN TReNDS’ Local Data Action
project.
5
7.2
A National Index for US
Cities
7.2.1 Methods
The US Cities SDG Indices (2017, 2018, 2019),
prepared by the SDSN, provide a portrait of sustainable development at the local level for the
100 most populous metropolitan areas in the
USA. In all studies, the metropolitan statistical
area (MSA) is used as the geographic unit instead
of the nuclear city, because more comparable
data are available at this level. Additionally,
many of the SDG challenges translate most naturally onto the interconnected metropolitan region
rather than individual jurisdictions within the
MSAs. Nonetheless, the term “city” is used
interchangeably with MSA to make the report
more accessible and policy intuitive. Taken
together the 100 MSAs within the index are
home to 66% of the US population. The SDG
Index enables us to see how US individual cities
are performing on specific indicators for each
goal. The 2018 index, which is a composite
index, was calculated using 44 indicators spanning 15 of the 17 SDGs.
For each goal in the US Cities SDG Index,
indicators that evaluate aspects of sustainable
development have been identified, for which data
are readily available and are consistently collected across the country. These indicators map
closely to the set of global SDG indicators proposed by the UN’s Inter-Agency and Expert
Group on SDG Indicators but were selected primarily based on their relevance to the US context
and their availability.
Although the index was calculated for 3 different years (2017, 2018, 2019), the results are
not directly comparable. Improvements were
made between versions to strengthen the meth5
do/solution-initiatives/usa-sustainable-cities-initiativeusa-sci/ and https://www.sdsntrends.org/local-data-action
J. Espey
the SDGs in local planning and monitoring local
progress; however local processes and data
sources vary considerably, and so the local data
generated is not directly comparable.
To support a more active comparison of progress across the USA and to encourage more cities
to take up the SDGs, SDSN also pioneered a US
Cities SDG Index.
4
The index, first launched in
2017, repeated in 2018 and 2019, aims to provide
a set of comparable metrics across the 100 largest
metropolitan areas in the USA, which show overarching progress on the Sustainable Development
Goals. The SDG Index enables us to see which US
cities and regions are faring well or performing
badly on specific goals. The Index consists of 44
indicators spanning 15 of the 17 SDGs. Goal 14 on
Life Below Water and Goal 17 on Partnership for
the Goals are excluded since they do not apply to
many US cities and/or data are insufficient.
Both of these approaches to local SDG monitoring have benefits and limitations. A national
index is advantageous in that it enables active
comparison, can help generate support for the
goals, can show areas that are underserved, and
can help direct federal political attention and
investment. Conversely a local, bottom-up
approach to monitoring enables cities to utilize
existing data resources and to map the alignment
of their current policies and planning to the goals;
it can also foster community engagement and buy
in. This chapter critically evaluates the benefits
and limitations of both approaches and makes
recommendations on how cities should approach
the challenge of local monitoring of the SDGs. It
draws heavily upon learning from the SDSN’s
USA Sustainable Cities Initiative, the preparation
of the SDSN’s US Cities Index 2017 and 2018,
4 Espey, Jessica, Dahmm, Hayden, and Laurie Manderino
(2018) Leaving No US Cities Behind: The U.S. Cities
SDG Index, Issue 2018, New York: UNSDSN. Available
at:
http://unsdsn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/
US-Cities-Index-Report.pdf and Prakash, Mihir, Teksoz,
Katerina, Espey, Jessica, Sachs, Jeffrey, Shank, Michael
and Guido Schmidt-Traub (2017) Achieving a Sustainable
Urban America, The U.S. Cities SDG Index 2017,
New York: UNSDSN. Available at: http://unsdsn.org/wpcontent/uploads/2017/08/US-Cities-SDG-Index-2017.pdf
and SDSN TReNDS’ Local Data Action
project.
5
7.2
A National Index for US
Cities
7.2.1 Methods
The US Cities SDG Indices (2017, 2018, 2019),
prepared by the SDSN, provide a portrait of sustainable development at the local level for the
100 most populous metropolitan areas in the
USA. In all studies, the metropolitan statistical
area (MSA) is used as the geographic unit instead
of the nuclear city, because more comparable
data are available at this level. Additionally,
many of the SDG challenges translate most naturally onto the interconnected metropolitan region
rather than individual jurisdictions within the
MSAs. Nonetheless, the term “city” is used
interchangeably with MSA to make the report
more accessible and policy intuitive. Taken
together the 100 MSAs within the index are
home to 66% of the US population. The SDG
Index enables us to see how US individual cities
are performing on specific indicators for each
goal. The 2018 index, which is a composite
index, was calculated using 44 indicators spanning 15 of the 17 SDGs.
For each goal in the US Cities SDG Index,
indicators that evaluate aspects of sustainable
development have been identified, for which data
are readily available and are consistently collected across the country. These indicators map
closely to the set of global SDG indicators proposed by the UN’s Inter-Agency and Expert
Group on SDG Indicators but were selected primarily based on their relevance to the US context
and their availability.
Although the index was calculated for 3 different years (2017, 2018, 2019), the results are
not directly comparable. Improvements were
made between versions to strengthen the meth5
do/solution-initiatives/usa-sustainable-cities-initiativeusa-sci/ and https://www.sdsntrends.org/local-data-action
J. Espey