This book seeks to revise and challenge the roles and traditional realms of influence that national and local governments, and businesses at a critical juncture in terms of achieving sustainable development, faces when tackling the dual challenges of climate change and post-COVID recovery. Using the broader lens of the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to assess the roles and responsibilities of each of these stakeholders and their relationships, the book offers policy, economic arguments, case studies and examples to argue that neither national or local governments, nor companies, could afford to deviate from the SDGs in the recovery from the current crisis, nor that the imperative of bold climate action should detract from the broader focus on sustainability. The analysis frames the debate of how a balance between people, planet, and profits can be achieved and how nations, regions and cities, and businesses, with their representative organizations, can achieve a sustainable recovery from the current global crisis, and contribute to climate smart, resilient and inclusive development.

This book identifies effective strategies to plan, create and manage government and privately-owned public urban spaces, and explores the broad spectrum of ways to govern public spaces and how they can be financially sustainable assets. The book consists of three Parts. Part I explores the different degrees of "publicness" of public spaces and frames the delivery of well-designed and managed public spaces in cities through better asset lifecycle management. Part II examines the quality and spatial patterns of how public spaces are planned and distributed across selected cities. Part III focuses on how different types of public spaces are planned, designed, funded, implemented, and managed, drawing upon a series of city case studies.