Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

The purpose of this paper is to compare the perceptions of citizens and local leaders about a number of issues relevant to the sustainable development of cities (environmental sustainability and climate change, urban sustainability, fiscal sustainability and governance). The research takes the information produced in the application of the Methodology for Emerging and Sustainable Cities (Inter-American Development Bank) in the cities of Tapachula, Chiapas, and Lázaro Cárdenas, Michoacán, Mexico. As a result, we can observe significant differences between citizens’ perception (agenda), that of local leaders, and statistical information on each topic. The dissonances seem to be an outcome of the distancing between local stakeholders, the social and economic inequalities between social groups, the inability of local government to promote negotiation between groups, as well as the incapacity of local authorities to preserve in time the priorities defined in the local development plans. One of the most important consequences of these events is the creation of a highly unstable local government agenda, subject to exogenous pressures that constantly alter it, preventing cities to reach an appropriate path of long-term sustainable development.