The public metropolis : the political dynamics of urban expansion in the Toronto region, 1924-2003 / Frances Frisken.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frisken, Frances.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Metropolitan government--Ontario--Toronto--History.

Metropolitan government.

Cities and towns--Growth--Government policy--Ontario--History.

Cities and towns.

Regional planning--Ontario--Toronto Region--History.

Regional planning.

Urbanization--Ontario--Toronto Region--History.

Urbanization.

Urban policy.

History.

Cities and towns--Growth--Government policy.

Cities and towns--Growth.

Toronto (Ont.)--Politics and government--20th century.

Toronto (Ont.).

Urban policy--Ontario--History.

Ontario.

Ontario--Toronto Region.

Ontario--Toronto.

Physical Description:

363 pages : maps ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Toronto : Canadian Scholars' Press, [2007]

Summary:

The Public Metropolis traces the evolution of Ontario government responses to rapid population growth and outward expansion in the Toronto city region over an eighty-year period. Frisken rigorously describes the many institutions and policies that were put in place at different times to provide services of region-wide importance. She then skillfully assesses the extent to which those institutions and policies managed to achieve objectives commonly identified with effective regional governance. Although the province acted sporadically and often reluctantly in the face of regional population growth and expansion, Frisken argues that its various interventions nevertheless contributed to the region's most noteworthy achievement: a core city that continued to thrive while many other North American cities were experiencing population, economic, and social decline.

This perceptive and comprehensive examination of issues related to the evolution of city regions is critical reading not only for those teaching and researching in this field, but also for city and regional planners, officials at all levels of government, and urban historians.

Contents:

Preface: On the Study of Regional Governance 15

Toronto in the North American Context 32

The Agenda for Regional Governance Reform: Competing Objectives 33

Alternative Approaches to Governing City-regions: The North American Experience 38

Service Delivery and Service Financing Go Hand in Hand 46

Historical Trends in the Governance of North American City-Regions 51

2 1924-1966 Debating and Creating Metropolitan Institutions 55

Background and Context 55

The Post-war Situation: Defining the Regional Agenda 64

Financing the New Arrangements 75

Assessing Metro's Performance 81

3 1966-1975 Three-Tier Regional Governance under Provincial Stewardship 103

Introduction: Growth-Related Challenges Redefined 103

The Origins and Evolution of Policies for a City-Centred Region 104

Finance: The Driving Concern 118

Consequences of Three-Tier Governance for the Regional Agenda 122

4 1975-1985 Provincial Retrenchment and Local Inaction 143

Why the Ontario Government Backed Away from Regionalism 143

Institutional Adaptations to Regional Change 147

Financing Regional Services: An Emphasis on Restraint and Financial Restructuring 154

Consequences for the Regional Agenda 156

5 1985-1995 Regionalism Revisited 189

The Re-emergence of Regional Issues 189

Incremental Regionalism 191

The Financial Challenges: Grappling with Declining Federal Government Support and a Major Recession 194

Consequences for Regional Governance: Much Discussion but Few Accomplishments 199

6 1995-2003 Charting a New Course for Regional Governance 237

Institutional and Policy Adjustments Affecting the GTA 239

Financing the New Arrangements 258

Outcomes for the Toronto Region 262

7 Fifty Years of Regional Governance under Provincial Stewardship 293

Assessing the Results of Provincial Stewardship for the Regional Agenda 298

The Situation in 2003 319.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781551303307

1551303302

OCLC:

173248550