Book excerpt: 'Sustainable development' is a key issue of concern to urban planners across the globe. How it is defined, implemented and measured at the local level remains highly contested and subject to a wide range of external cultural, political and economic pressures. Bringing together leading experts from North America, Europe, the Middle East and SE Asia, this book provides a timely overview of the various methods for understanding and implementing sustainable practices at local levels. In doing so, they present the wide range of local action alternatives available to planners that may be pursued in spite of the constraints generated by globalization processes and highlight the array of public policy options that could reduce the external pressures shaping the possible local alternatives. The book argues that, while local planners and local authorities are willing to act, many are unaware of the range of options available to them. In bringing together these case studies, not only diverse in geographic terms, but also reflecting very different levels of income, general population education, cultural norms, legal systems and government structures, it points out innovations and examples of best practice.