MI$$ING LINKS: Infrastructure Financing and Smart Growth Outcomes

Over the last two decades, many governments across North America have embraced “smart growth.” Most have done so primarily through urban planning, often without considering the growth implications of other tools. Are infrastructure financing tools underutilized when it comes to planning for smart growth? Do we run the risk of undercutting “smart growth” efforts if we assume infrastructure financing tools to be growth-neutral? In this talk, IMFG Graduate Fellow Dave Marshall examined key findings from the academic literature and early statistics following the implementation of the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe to discuss these challenging policy questions.

SPEAKER

Dave Marshall is the IMFG’s 2014-15 Blanche & Sandy Van Ginkel Graduate Fellow. He completed his B.A. in Political Science and International Development at McGill University, prior to starting law school in Montreal. Dave came to the University of Toronto in 2013 to complete his law degree concurrently with studies in public policy as the University’s first joint J.D.-M.P.P. candidate. His primary areas of research include alternative infrastructure finance and procurement, civil procedure reform, public administration pedagogy, and public sector recruitment.