Latest Past Events
Does local government autonomy promote fiscal sustainability? Lessons from Illinois’ home rule municipalities
What are the consequences of home rule authority on fiscal sustainability? What lessons does this hold for Canadian municipalities? This seminar will address these questions by analyzing the experience of over 50 cities and villages that adopted home rule within the past two decades.
Legacies of the Megacity: Toronto’s Amalgamation 20 Years Later
Campbell Conference Facility Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place, TorontoIn 1998, Metropolitan Toronto and its six lower tier municipalities were amalgamated to form the City of Toronto. The decision to amalgamate was controversial then, and continues to be contentious to some today. Two decades later, what can we say about the megacity merger? Did it achieve its goals? Are Torontonians better served by one large government than the previous two-tier model? Looking forward, what lies ahead for regional governance in the GTHA?
Promise and Peril in the Smart City: Local Government in the Age of Digital Urbanism
Campbell Conference Facility Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, 1 Devonshire Place, TorontoThe recent swell of interest in smart cities draws attention to the way the city of the future will be designed, built, and run. Increased use of technology in municipal […]