Taylor, Zack, 1973- author.

Shaping the metropolis : institutions and urbanization in the United States and Canada / Zack Taylor.

Montreal ; Kingston ; London ; Chicago : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2019]
©2019

xv, 456 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

McGill-Queen's studies in urban governance ; 11

"Rising income inequality and concentrated poverty threaten the social sustainability of North American cities. Suburban growth endangers sensitive ecosystems, water supplies, and food security. Existing urban infrastructure is crumbling while governments struggle to pay for new and expanded services. Can our inherited urban governance institutions and policies effectively respond to these problems? In Shaping the Metropolis Zack Taylor compares the historical development of American and Canadian urban governance, both at the national level and through specific metropolitan case studies. Examining Minneapolis-St Paul and Portland, Oregon, in the United States, and Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, Taylor shows how differences in the structure of governing institutions in American states and Canadian provinces cumulatively produced different forms of urban governance. Arguing that since the nineteenth century American state governments have responded less effectively to rapid urban growth than Canadian provinces, he shows that the concentration of authority in Canadian provincial governments enabled the rapid adoption of coherent urban policies after the Second World War, while dispersed authority in American state governments fostered indecision and catered to parochial interests. Most contemporary policy problems, and their solutions, are to be found in cities. Shaping the Metropolis shows that urban governance encompasses far more than local government, and that states and provinces have always played a central role in responding to urban policy challenges and will continue to do so in the future"--Provided by publisher.

9780773557055 (paperback)
0773557059 (paperback)
9780773557048 (hardcover)
0773557040 (hardcover)
9780773558434 (epub)
9780773558427 (epdf)

Municipal government Canada Case studies.
Municipal government United States Case studies.
Urbanization Canada Case studies.
Urbanization United States Case studies.
Administration municipale Canada Études de cas.
Administration municipale États-Unis Études de cas.
Urbanisation Canada Études de cas.
Urbanisation États-Unis Études de cas.
Municipal government.
Urbanization.
Canada.
United States.

Case studies.
Études de cas.

McGill-Queen's studies in urban governance ; 11.

Institutions and urbanization in the United States and Canada

Location: Library main 305027
Call No.: BIB 250763
Status: Available