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September 2019
Metropolitan Governance: Future Necessity or Misplaced Dream?
Experts from multiple disciplines have argued in principle for the benefits of metropolitan governance, but how has it played out in practice? On September 19, IMFG Visiting Scholar Alan Harding addressed this question by drawing on his experience as Chief Economic Adviser to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority as well as his many years of academic research on metropolitan governance. In his presentation, professor Harding assessed the arguments produced in favour of metropolitan governance, the extent to which real-world reforms…
Find out more »June 2018
Toronto: The Accidental Metropolis
Toronto is evolving with a style and character unique in the world, widely recognized for its livability. Now its economic power and its critical and largely successful function as a crucible of immigrant settlement is becoming more and more evident. Remarkably, the emergence of Canada’s cities on the world stage, and Toronto’s rise to the top dozen in global status, has been largely accidental. How did this happen?
Find out more »January 2018
Promise and Peril in the Smart City: Local Government in the Age of Digital Urbanism
The 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 servicing and governance holds tremendous promise to increase community engagement, create efficiencies in service production, better manage scarce resources and increase sustainability. At the same time, however, a push towards new technology adoption in local government could worsen the digital divide, increase inequity, and privatize control over data and urban…
Find out more »November 2017
Understanding Smarter Cities: What Happens Next?
As part of IMFG’s ongoing series of publications and events, we are pleased to co-sponsor the following event, organized by the Urban Studies Program at Innis College. The intended audience includes local and regional stakeholders, government and industry partners that are developing smart cities strategies, researchers and community members. Panelists will highlight previous smart cities work and research including a recent workshop led by U of T on The Future of Smart Cities in India and also connect to the Canadian federal…
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