Challenges of public governance for the implementation of public policies

The aim is to promote conceptual, historical and contextual approaches to the main challenges of governance in implementing public policies aimed at developing sustainable cities. The research methodology adopted was qualitative; the method was deductive; the strategy was bibliographical and documentary review. This study broadens and fosters debates on public governance and sustainable development; it contextualizes the main challenges of public governance in the face of the modern and bureaucratic state, barriers that limit, distort, compromise and can render public policy innocuous; and it contributes to studies that seek to understand the gaps and failures in the implementation of public policies.