Urban Affairs/Local Government

New Senior Fellow Urban Policy

Rags to Riches How "The Regions" can lead Canada's productivity growth, Dr. Michael MacDonald on how the New Cape Breton starts at home, AIMS at Acadia University on the meaning of sustainable development and Brian Lee Crowley on proportional representation.

Just as central planners devastated Eastern Europe before being tossed out, so too the old central planning model of urban development can do us a lot of harm before people finally come around to see that it is incompatible with the direction our society and economy are headed. Consider that the current fashion in urban planning is towards high density housing and increased urban transit, yet lower density living and travel by car are things that people want, because they reflect a higher standard of living and more personal freedom. In his regular newspaper column, AIMS President Brian Crowley, explains why only a land-use philosophy that supports this natural desire for a higher standard of living will have any hope of creating the conditions in which cities such as ours will thrive, because these are conditions that are in fact attractive to people. Publication: CHH, October 23, 2002

At the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Capital Cities Organization in Fredericton on September 14, 2002, Dr. Michael J. MacDonald, AIMS’ Senior Fellow, was invited to present the keynote address on the future of Canada's cities. The debate on the role of Canada's cities within the federation and on ways to fund future investment in infrastructure and services is a major issue as Parliament begins a new session in the Autumn of this year. Trapped in a Victorian political structure that ignores the dynamic role of Canada's cities in the national and global economies, these urban municipalities now account for more than 80% of Canada's population. Yet recent public policy has ignored this fact and governments for the most part are focused not on these growth centres but on communities in crisis.

AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley explains why the one thing that most dominates the regional urban landscape now is technology, and how this has tremendous effects on the future shape of cities.

In this piece from the Globe and Mail, AIMS Senior Fellow Michael MacDonald, analyses the state of Canada's cities in a primarily rural-dominated, bureaucratic environment and emphasizes the current lack of effective national urban strategy. Dr. MacDonald stresses that cities and city governments are not synonymous, and that therefore many urban problems are susceptible to non-governmental solutions.

Les villes canadiennes sont des moteurs économiques, sociaux et culturels du 21e siècle immobilisés dans un environnement politique de l'ère victorienne. Leurs gouvernements sont faibles et bornés: les provinces sont hostiles et concentrées sur le milieu rural et le gouvernement fédéral ne sait même plus s'il est censé connaître l'existence des villes. Ce n'est certes pas la recette de la prospérité.

Halifax Regional Council put in place a sound bidding process and it has received some good bids. After satisfying itself that its own process has been followed, council should see it through. These are the conclusions reached by AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley.

The Board and staff of AIMS were saddened to learn of the recent death of one of the members of the Institute's Board of Directors, John (Jack) C. Hartery, recently retired President and General Manager of Stora Enso Port Hawkesbury Limited.

The Board and staff of AIMS were saddened to learn of the recent death of one of the members of the Institute’s Board of Research Advisors and AIMS author, E.G. West, Professor Emeritus in the Economics Department, Carleton University.