Abstract
For local governments in city-regions, the term “dispositional immobility” can be applied in situations where the question of municipal restructuring becomes an arena for permanent public policy non-decisions. Disposition is here used to mean both the inherent qualities of persons and communities, and the arrangement of the structures within an area. It is argued that administrative stasis results as dispositional immobility creates tactical political barriers to innovation, and policy inaction becomes a deliberate response. In Alberta, city-regions since the 1950s have preserved multiple autonomous municipalities rather than initiating centripetal reforms as is the case elsewhere in Canada. An analysis of the province and its leadership during the past half-century suggests reasons for this entrenched dispositional immobility within the institutional culture of Alberta’s city-regions. Our conclusion suggests that the time has come to rethink and challenge the long-standing and unquestioned continuation of the city-regional structural status quo.
Highlights
Of Canada’s ten largest census metropolitan areas, seven possess a form of unitary municipal administration that is largely coincident with the urbanized area, and two have an area-wide second tier of authority
When policy makers choose not to disturb what is already in place—that is, when they make a decision not to decide on a potential course of action—what is important to notice but usually overlooked is that, once taken, a decision not to decide is very clearly a policy choice made. This is what Leslie Pal has labelled a static response: “a deliberate choice not to intervene made after an analysis of the problem” ([1], p. 156)
The perception that there is no problem within the state’s jurisdiction requiring resolution; Given various constraints, there are insufficient resources available to address the issue; Caution dictates that a precedent should not be set by taking action; and Experience shows that, given time, the policy shortcoming regarding the issue in question will most likely correct itself
Summary
Of Canada’s ten largest census metropolitan areas, seven possess a form of unitary municipal administration that is largely coincident with the urbanized area, and two have an area-wide second tier of authority. When policy makers choose not to disturb what is already in place—that is, when they make a decision not to decide on a potential course of action—what is important to notice but usually overlooked is that, once taken, a decision not to decide is very clearly a policy choice made. This is what Leslie Pal has labelled a static response: “a deliberate choice not to intervene made after an analysis of the problem”
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