AUTHOR=Lord Fiona , Prior Jason 

TITLE=How do governance visions, institutions and practices enable urban sustainability transformations? A study of Battambang and Sihanoukville, Cambodia

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Sustainable Cities

VOLUME=Volume 6 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-cities/articles/10.3389/frsc.2024.1342524

DOI=10.3389/frsc.2024.1342524

ISSN=2624-9634

ABSTRACT=Whilst research has highlighted the challenges of rapid urbanisation in Cambodia, few studies have focused on increased interest within Cambodia on how reforming urban governance can support urban sustainability transformations. Addressing this research gap, this study explores how urban governance might enable sustainability transformations in two secondtier cities -Battambang and Sihanoukville -in Cambodia, based on the analysis of openended interviews with fifty-five representatives involved in the development and implementation of urban sustainability plans and policies for these cities. The findings identify how urban governance visions, institutions and practices can be strengthened to enable sustainability transformations within these cities. Deleted: hree 43 Deleted: the vulnerability of urban residents to climate 44 change and disasters 45 Deleted: Thirdly, Southeast Asian cities have unique 46 cultures, and our research enables an understanding of how 47 urban governance contributes to transformations in these 48 cultures. Cambodia's heritage and social-political context 49 justify a specific focus on the cultural governance dimensions 50 of Cambodia's urban sustainability transformations.