Slow Growth and Urban Development Policy

Leo, Christopher; Brown, Wilson B.

doi:10.1111/0735-2166.00050

Cited by 24 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Despite that, our research has uncovered one variable that seems particularly robust, and our findings regarding this source of community difference confirm the results of earlier research~Leo, 1994; Leo and Brown, 2000;Leo and Anderson, 2005!. A very basic reason why different cities need different policies is population growth rate.…”

Section: Sources Of Community Differencesupporting

confidence: 86%

Deep Federalism: Respecting Community Difference in National Policy

Leo

2006

Can J Pol Sci

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Abstract. The literatures of both federalism and urban politics conclude that economic, technological and political changes on a global scale have produced limitations on the capacities of national governments, while enhancing the economic and political importance of urban-centred regions. A practical implication is that cities have become central to the study of federalism. This article attempts a synthesis of what we can learn from the federalism and urban politics literatures about the governance of cities in the twenty-first century. It considers the argument in favour of charter cities, as well as the advocacy of a stronger central government to preserve the social safety net, and concludes that both positions are premised on a traditional, hierarchical view of intergovernmental relations, a view that is out of keeping with the exigencies of a borderless world. Instead, it poses the following question: How can we have policies that are truly national and yet fully take into account the very significant differences among regions and communities? The article draws on recent research on the impact of federal policies regarding homelessness and immigration in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Saint John, as well as other research, to consider whether the federal government is doing the best it can to preserve national standards while respecting community difference. It concludes by defining three policy models that show varying degrees of promise in achieving that objective.Résumé. Les recherches courantes sur le fédéralisme et sur la politique urbaine avancent que les changements économiques, technologiques et politiques qui se produisent à l'échelle mondiale affaiblissent les capacités des gouvernements nationaux tout en renforçant l'importance économique et politique des centres urbains. Il en découle, sur le plan pratique, que les centres urbains sont devenus un sujet essentiel de l'étude du fédéralisme. Le présent article tente de faire une synthèse de ce que les recherches sur le fédéralisme et la politique urbaine peuvent nous enseigner sur la gouvernance des villes au 21e siècle. Après avoir examiné l'argument en faveur des villes à charte et celui qui préconise un renforcement du gouvernement central pour préserver le filet de sécurité sociale, l'article conclut que les deux arguments sont fondés sur une conception traditionnelle et hiérarchique des relations intergouvernementales, et que cette conception ne répond plus aux exigences d'un monde sans frontières. Puis, il pose la question suivante : comment peut-on formuler des politiques qui soient véritablement nationales et qui, en même temps, tiennent compte des différences importantes entre les régions et les communautés? S'inspirant principalement d'une enquête récente sur le retentissement des politiques fédérales sur les problèmes des sans-abri et de l'immigration à Vancouver, à Winnipeg et à Saint-Jean N.-B., l'article examine dans quelle mesure le gouvernement fédéral s'efforce de sauvegarder des normes nationales tout en respectant les différences régionales. En conclusion, il propose trois modèles politiques qui seraient susceptibles, à des degrés divers, d'atteindre cet objectif.

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Section: Sources Of Community Differencesupporting

confidence: 86%

Deep Federalism: Respecting Community Difference in National Policy

Leo

2006

Can J Pol Sci

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“…Europe is less afflicted with the growth fixation. European metropolitan areas that would be classified by American urban policy analyst Anthony Downs (1994) as growing slowly or declining include Vienna, Brussels, Copenhagen, Cologne, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Florence, Genoa, Milan, Naples, and Rome (Leo & Brown, 2000)—not a list of prime candidates for a diminished sense of self‐worth.…”

Section: United States Msas and Cmsas: Selected Growth Rates Top mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The nadir of that phase came in 1995, when the governments of Winnipeg and Manitoba spent some $55 million in a failed attempt to save the Winnipeg Jets, since renamed the Phoenix Coyotes (Silver, 1996). Such actions are a product not of rational economic calculations but of the irrational fears produced by a growth-driven perspective in which ''smaller'' also means ''less valuable'' and ''less significant'' (Leo & Brown, 2000).…”

Section: Economic Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Being Realistic about Urban Growth

Leo

Anderson

2006

Journal of Urban Affairs

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This paper distinguishes between cities experiencing high rates of growth and those growing more slowly and argues that it is critically important to take rates of growth into consideration in policy making. Using the examples of Vancouver and Winnipeg, we explore the economic, physical, and political differences associated with their different rates of growth and consider the policy implications of these differences. We critically compare policies pursued by the two cities in five areas: economic development, infrastructure and services, land use, planning for growth, and housing. We argue that both slow and rapid growth have advantages and disadvantages but that policy, especially in slow-growth centers, is often dictated not by a sober assessment of opportunities and constraints but by an unreasoning pursuit of growth at all costs. This pursuit has engendered a way of thinking about urban policy that has affected both city governance and academic urban studies literature.

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“…Studies of the dynamics in national, continental and global urban systems documented the rise and fall of cities in terms of population size, employment base, infrastructure links, the presence of headquarters and the like (Hall and Hay, 1980;Cheshire et al, 1986;Reclus, 1989). The possibility that continuous growth is an impossible, and probably also a highly undesirable, situation for any city or region has been recognised in theory and policy practice only to a very limited extent (Leo and Brown, 2000;Savitch and Kantor, 2003). To the extent that theory and policy strategies account for the possibility of decline, they usually do so only for a short period of time.…”

Section: Shrinking Cities In a Post-fordist And Post-socialist Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Facing the challenge of shrinking cities in East Germany: The case of Leipzig

Bontje

2004

GeoJournal

274

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In the early 20 th century, the East German city of Leipzig seemed well on its way to become a metropolis of international importance. The city was expected to grow towards over one million inhabitants in 2000. Seventy years later, Leipzig's population has shrunk to less than 500,000 inhabitants instead. The German partition after World War II took away most of its national administrative and economic functions and much of its hinterland. The socialist GDR regime worsened the longterm development perspectives and living circumstances of the city. The German reunification brought new development chances, but like most East German cities, Leipzig's hopes soon became disappointed. The local politicians faced a difficult redevelopment task: apart from the question how to revive the local and regional economy, they also had to deal with a housing vacancy rate of 20%, a huge need for renovation in the older neighbourhoods as well as in the socialist highrise areas, the negative effects of urban sprawl on the city core, and various environmental pollution problems. After briefly describing the development path of Leipzig until the 1990s, the paper will discuss the current attempts of the city government to give Leipzig a more positive post-industrial future. On the one hand, Leipzig is developing a strategy to 'downsize' the city's built environment and infrastructure to adapt to a probably lastingly smaller population. On the other hand, many growth instruments well known from the international scientific and political debate are tried to put Leipzig back on the (inter)national map. The paper will discuss these development strategies in the light of the international debate on the question 'how to fight the shrinking city', with specific attention for post-socialist cities.

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Slow Growth and Urban Development Policy

Cited by 24 publications

References 54 publications

Deep Federalism: Respecting Community Difference in National Policy

Deep Federalism: Respecting Community Difference in National Policy

Being Realistic about Urban Growth

Facing the challenge of shrinking cities in East Germany: The case of Leipzig

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