Book launch: Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City Governance

The inaction of nation states and international bodies has posed significant risks to the environment. By contrast, cities are sites of action and innovation. In Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City Governance (University of Toronto Press, 2022), contributors researching in the areas of law, urban planning, geography, and philosophy identify approaches for tackling many of the most challenging environmental problems facing cities today.

Cities are experiencing drastic events due to climate change that threaten the present and future well-being of urban communities. Sustainability, Citizen Participation, and City Governance integrates law and policy to ask the fundamental question: how must governance systems adapt to protect communities? Using case studies from across Canada, this edited collection proposes humane and inclusive processes for arriving at effective policy outcomes.

At the launch, co-editor Hoi L. Kong will provide an overview of the governance mechanisms raised in the book, as well as the critical role of social movements and community-based interest groups. Kong will then discuss the implications of these ideas with contributor and IMFG Fellow Alexandra Flynn.

Copies of the book will be available for sale.

Speakers:

Hoi L. Kong holds the Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, P.C., UBC Professorship in Constitutional Law at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia.

Alexandra Flynn is an Associate Professor at University of British Columbia’s Allard School of Law