This survey is being conducted as part of a research study at the Center for Sustainable Development at The University of Texas at Austin. The study attempts to measure various factors that facilitate and/or hinder efforts to advance sustainable development at the local government level in the U.S. Our working definition of “movement towards sustainability” is “changing patterns of consumption and production (that is … all the ways we live, work, and play at all levels of human activity – institutions, firms, households and individuals) in a more ecologically sensitive, economically sound, and socially just manner.” Many still see sustainable development as a purely environmental idea. But it is far more than that. It is about creating a business climate where goods and services are produced using less energy and materials with less waste and pollution. It is about considering the potential social impacts of community investment decisions and assessing inequalities between minority groups within the community. In short, sustainable thinking is built upon the “three E’s” of economy, environment and equity. For a community to be sustainable, it must keep all three “E’s” in mind as it moves forward.
Many cities have developed programs and policies that purport to promote movement toward local sustainability. The purpose of this survey is to gather information on various factors that determine the success of sustainability initiatives. While some of the variables, such as local political values and socio-economic conditions, cannot be manipulated in the short-run, other factors such as technical and financial assistance can be affected by public policy. The purpose of this survey is to pay attention to the identification and evaluation of key “policy” and “planning” variables.
Your participation will help us gain a more detailed understanding of city-level planning, adoption, and implementation of sustainability policies. Sustainability initiatives in cities promise to make significant differences in the quality of life and quality of the environment for their residents. If this promise is to be fulfilled, our understanding of what conditions contribute to more effective initiatives must improve.
Last year your city had filled out “In Pursuit of Livable Cities: A Survey to Measure Local Government Effort to Promote More Livable and Sustainable Communities,” which provided us with information on the various sustainability initiatives that have been adopted by your city, with respect to environmental protection, economic development, and equity. The results from that survey are available here. We hope you will take the time to complete this final survey which will help us better understand the factors that help explain local sustainability efforts.
The results from this survey will be presented in various conferences and published in journals.
We would like you to answer all of the questions, even if you have not thought about them before. Please answer all questions based on your experience, available data, and impressions.
Based on pre-testing of the survey, it will take no more than 20-25 minutes to complete.
If you need clarification, encounter any problems, or need further elaboration on the study, please contact my Research Assistant, Devashree Saha, at email: saha@mail.utexas.edu and phone: 512-350-5345.
Please feel free to pass the survey along to a more appropriate staff person to complete the survey as you see fit.
Completed survey should be sent by June 30, 2007 to Robert Paterson, Center for Sustainable Development, The University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture, 1 University Station, B7500, Austin TX 78712. A self-addressed postage paid envelope is enclosed for you to return the completed survey.
No information you give us will be revealed in any way that identifies a specific city or individual. Your responses will remain strictly confidential.
The survey questions ask you to respond in one of two ways - clicking your mouse on a circle to indicate your answer, or typing your answer into a rectangle.
Please make sure to type in your CITY ID before you start answering the survey questions. This is just a survey procedure so that we can check your city off of the mailing list when it is filled out. The CITY ID for each city is printed on the cover sheet of the survey that has been mailed to you.
You may answer the questions in any order, change an earlier answer, or answer a question that you may have initially left blank. The software does not allow you to save your answers and finish at another time. We understand that you are hard pressed for time, but we would appreciate it if you can spare 20-25 minutes to fill out the survey.
You may also skip any question you do not wish to answer. Just leave that question with no answers marked. Once you answer a question, the software will allow you to change your answer, but not to withdraw it completely.
Be sure to click the "SUBMIT SURVEY" button when you are finished. If the survey goes through without a problem, you will receive a brief response almost immediately.