This article argues that democracy requires citizens to have confidence that their interests and concerns will be seriously considered by their elected representatives. Drawing on a case study of one municipality, the ability of citizens in small communities to have local issues considered by Council was examined. The nature of the municipality, the Council structure, and the ethos that required Councilors to take a “corporate” view of representation—representing the municipality as a whole rather than any particular community—were all factors limiting citizens' confidence that their concerns would be taken seriously by Council. This shortcoming in democracy at the local level is only partially offset by the municipality's Community Consultative Bodies. These aim to allow local communities to bring their issues before Council, however they operate unevenly and in parts of this municipality and in many other municipalities do not exist at all.
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Anatomy of a disaster
The neo-liberal state in Mumbai's 2005 flood
Judith Whitehead
This article discusses the networked forms of governance that have arisen as part of roll-out neo-liberal policies in Mumbai, India, focusing on the flood of 26 July 2005 and its aftermath. The municipal government's inaction during and after the flood is attributed to the decentralization of governance, as well as to cutbacks to public health and basic services in recent years. The rise of competitive urbanism as a part of roll-out neo-liberalism is analyzed as producing gaps in disaster management planning and implementation. The article concludes with a call for a refinanced state and a centralization of municipal bodies under a unified municipal council, seen as necessary to provide the professionalized services required during large-scale emergencies such as floods.
Don Nonini
housing. Not only had the national and municipal governments and Amsterdam’s 14 housing corporations come together to support the growth in new social housing, but they also had taken measures to expand rental subsidies for all but the most wealthy groups
Federica Stagni and Daryl Glaser
municipal governments. If the complaint is that provincial devolution precludes decisive action from the centre, it's not clear how to reconcile that with another complaint, voiced by Van Niekerk and Fine, about former President Thabo Mbeki's centralism
Religious Tourism
Analytical Routes through Multiple Meanings
Emerson Giumbelli
Translator : Jeffrey Hoff
tourism’. As we will see, there are significant distinctions between the understandings that co-exist in order to advance the construction of the monument. In various ways, the municipal government of Imbituba is taking a fundamental role toward realizing
Experiments in Excreta to Energy
Sustainability Science and Bio-Necro Collaboration in Urban Ghana
Brenda Chalfin
plan to generate electrical power at urban scale from a massive biodigester filled with the compounded faecal matter of Ashaiman's residents harvested from the city's public toilets. With the blessing of the municipal government and international
In The Cambridge Journal of Anthropology
- Published (Print):
- 01 Sep 2020
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 88–104
The Modus Operandi of Urban Agriculture Initiatives
Toward a Conceptual Framework
Charlotte Prové, Denise Kemper, and Salma Loudiyi
to strengthen their position in the city, when municipal governments translate their experience into advocacy at higher policy levels, or when UA is discussed in one of the many international discussion or networking platforms, such as the Milan Urban
Travel and Transformation
A Diachronic Study of the Changing Concept of Weisheng in Chinese Journals, 1880-1930
Bo Hu
shizhenggongbao (1921-1929), the official journal of Guanzhou municipal government. These documents reveal that the bureau of health, an independent bureau with the same standing as, for example, the bureaus of public security and treasury, 70 had undertaken
In Contributions to the History of Concepts
- Published (Print):
- 01 Jun 2017
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 1–21
The Incredible Edible Movement
People Power, Adaptation, and Challenges in Rennes (France) and Montreal (Canada)
Giulia Giacchè and Lya Porto
specific days decided by the group. According to official information from the municipal government, there are 95 community gardens and 75 collective gardens currently active in the city (Office de Consultation Publique de Montreal 2012). Drawing on media
Yechiam Weitz
opposition. In this position, Rafi began to cooperate with Gahal. It did so first on the level of municipal government, where they formed coalitions in several municipal councils. One important example was in Jerusalem, where Teddy Kollek, who headed the
