Synergies Between Environment and Economy Within a City Administration – Experiences Made by the City of Hannover, Germany

Abstract

City administrations are typically built up in a sectorial manner, each sector led by a Director of Service, who, as a rule, is strongly focused on the respective area of responsibility. Horizontal issues have difficulties with such an administrative structure – in this respect the founding of independent environmental departments in many cities about 20 years ago was clear progress. The topic of environment thus obtained its own seat in the board of administration and with dedicated advisory councils gained a significantly higher emphasis in the city policies.

In 2005, the 520,000 people strong City of Hannover went a step further by being one of the first European Metropolitan Cities to combine the environmental and economical tasks into one department. At first this was observed critically, now however it is widely celebrated as a success story. This chapter presents examples of the effects of such a positive synergy between economic development and environmental protection.