City-makers take responsibility and are held accountable

Shared responsibility can be stimulated by governance and participation processes to search for similar needs, interests and goals across different stakeholders in the city. In such processes co-learning and knowledge brokerage in public settings are central in making responsibilities explicit and improving accountability. Sharing initiatives and cooperatives for urban commons can encourage a sense of collective responsibility for certain urban resources and facilities. Financial practices and instruments can be used to stimulate -- or even force -- certain actors to take responsibility for unjust and/or unsustainable practices in cities.

Creating a comprehensive vision of sustainable and just change in a city can entice different stakeholders to take (more) responsibility for certain challenges and public resources. Intermediaries can play a crucial role in this; for example, building bridges between separate stakeholder groups and finding common ground in achieving a more just and sustainable city.

Unfit institutional structures can hamper the distribution of responsibilities as well as accountability for past, current and future missteps. Poorly coordinated policy and ineffective decision making can be seen as a result of avoiding responsibility. Also, a weak(ened) civil society can be seen as a threat to a more balanced playing field, in terms of power relations between informal and formal, public and private, and profit and non-profit actors. This level playing field can be further eroded by a lack of effective knowledge brokerage and stewardship opportunities between such actors in confronting urban sustainability challenges. 

• “To say you believe and not act is hypocritical. Believing in peace requires our personal hands-on responsibility for the peace of our very surroundings.”
• “Responsibility is a key factor to make possible an effective fight against climate change and its effects in urban settlements.”
• “We need, all together, to develop a common language and to practice multidisciplinarity. This would be a remarkable responsibility from my point of view.”
• “I think that talking about responsibility is key for achieving a sustainable and just city, my concern would be connected to the boundaries of the action. A responsible action for your city can lead to unsustainable situations somewhere else (promoting green-washing and rebound effects outside the city) and that should raise some warnings.”