The concept of eco-management of cities in the context of sustainable development and social responsibility

The author defines three equally important theories: the eco-management and audit system with sustainable development and social responsibility. A critical query of literature in English and Polish indicated the necessary and sufficient conditions to link the spatial structure of cities with the features of the three theories. The literature, however, does not include such a synthetic consideration of the urban development model, where the eco-management system is based on social responsibility and sustainable development. The thesis is that the process of socially responsible city management is based on true sustainable development, which is achieved in the city’s eco-management and audit system, based on the identified environmental aspects of the city. The article is the first comprehensive piece of evidence to demonstrate the need for a compulsory (rather than voluntary) and deep environmental approach to urban development to make it equitably responsible and sustainable. The article indicates the research gaps, which are the environmental and socio-ecological aspects of cities. A definition of the term environmental management and audit system of cities as an organisation is given. The lack of ecological security of semi-peripheral and the peripheral cities may be the reason why global civilisation challenges cannot be met. The author refers to the ecological safety of cities, proposes potential future research and invites to intercultural discussions on the problems of city management, which are still not socially responsible and sustainable