Autonomy Of Cities Research Articles

What lies beneath these creatures of the state: understanding the death of specialised governments in the U.S.

ABSTRACT After analysing 40 years of census data on U.S. local government change, this study finds that the dissolution of special districts (specialised governments) or ‘exits’ in U.S. counties are largely unrelated to demand factors. Using fixed effects regression specified at the urban county level, we find that restrictions on the fiscal autonomy of cities are associated with decreases in the special district exit rate and count. There is also evidence that state grants of ‘broad’ or ‘limited’ functional home rule to cities increase special district dissolutions. These results largely disappear when examining subgroups of districts classified by their asset specificity. The findings are consistent with the circumvention argument made in the local autonomy literature and may indicate some service consolidation, albeit from a different perspective.

Are Smart Cities Smarter? The Impact of Smart City Policy on Digital Autonomy of Cities in China

Are Smart Cities Smarter? The Impact of Smart City Policy on Digital Autonomy of Cities in China

The Scope of City Autonomy in the Constitutions of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom: Informality, Subsidiarity, Identity

One of the main issues in the debate on urban constitutionalism is how constitutions can recognize the increasingly important role of cities in relation to the nation-state. This paper examines what we talk about when we talk about city autonomy. This is a pressing question, particularly in the context of European unitary states. This paper pays special attention to the context of two of such states, namely the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (especially England). First, it explores the notion of subsidiarity, which implies that consideration should be given to the distinctiveness of the city as regards the allocation of power to the central and regional levels respectively. However, this idea in itself cannot justify the case for city autonomy, as the claim that the attribution of autonomous powers to cities may improve the quality of decision-making in the state as a whole needs additional empirical evidence. Second, it investigates the concept of city autonomy by exploring the fuzziness of the notion of the city. In addition, it introduces the concept of ‘spatial identities’ in order to explain the interdependence of (large) cities and their surrounding (rural) areas. Lastly, it concludes that if the importance of cities as constitutional actors is to be increased, it should be done so in an informal way rather than by the introduction of formal constitutional arrangements both from a pragmatic and a normative perspective.

Evaluation of the energy autonomy of urban areas as an instrument to promote the energy transition

ABSTRACT The management of energy systems with a high share of renewables is a challenge for grid planners and operators, as weather and energy demand do not always coincide. Investigating the energy autonomy of cities and their local energy resources can help to overcome this challenge. To this end, real energy demand data from the city of Loja, Ecuador, and wind energy generation from a nearby wind farm were compared. This showed that wind energy provides 53% of the city’s demand. It is exposed that despite the excess energy, the wind farm’s ability to supply the city with electricity is limited to about 74% when the wind farm is expanded to twice its rated capacity. The results show that in order to improve the autonomy, other energy sources, such as photovoltaic, as well as useful size energy storage are needed.

The State and Prospects of the Study of Urbanization as an International Political Phenomenon

The present study is aimed at studying urbanization as an international political phenomenon in modern world politics.Aim. To define the concept of urbanization and the city in modern political science and to identify the role of urbanization processes in international relations.Tasks. To define the essence of the city as a political concept, to define modern political concepts of cities, to comprehend the prospects of urbanization processes for modern international relations.Methods. In this paper, using the methods of analysis, synthesis and forecasting, the factors contributing to the influence of urbanization on modern international relations are identified.Results. The study showed that urbanization is an integral part of the international political process of the XXI century, the importance of which is increasing every year. Currently, the political, economic, and cultural life of society is concentrated in cities. At the same time, the number of urban residents is steadily increasing, which makes the XXI century the century of large urban settlements. Political practice shows that with increasing trends towards glocalization and regionalization, cities are becoming more and more autonomous players in solving local domestic and foreign policy issues, entering the world arena through special cross-border urban associations.Conclusion. The international legal non-regulation of the autonomy of cities as actors in international relations complicates the modern world political process. Nevertheless, global, and smart cities are becoming the flagships of urbanization and the centers of attraction for international cooperation, including in the field of politics, which makes it necessary to study them as a new international political phenomenon.

Local institutions and pandemics: City autonomy and the Black Death

Local institutions have long been regarded as key drivers of economic development. However, little is known about the role of institutions in preparing places to cope with public health crises and pandemics. This paper sheds light on how the nature of a local institution, city autonomy, influenced variations in the incidence of the Black Death —possibly the worst pandemic ever recorded— across cities in Western Europe between 1347 and 1352. We examine urban autonomy not only because it represented a major political shift in medieval times, but because, more importantly, it also represents a key prototype of modern political institution. By exploiting data on the spatial variation of Black Death's mortality rates and duration using OLS and 2SLS methods, we uncover that city autonomy reduced mortality rates by, on average, almost 10 percent. Autonomous cities were in a better position to adopt swift and efficient measures against the pandemic than those governed by remote kings and emperors. This relationship has been confirmed by a series of placebo tests and robustness checks. In contrast, there is no evidence to suggest that city autonomy was a factor in reducing the duration of the pandemic in European cities.

The Relationship Between Local Public Policies for Economic Development and Entrepreneurial Presence: The Italian Case

The financial crisis has made the theme of economic development particularly significant. Analysis of this topic cannot ignore a key actor, that is, public administration. Here, we focus on all the Italian municipalities ( n = 7,978), analyzing the relationship between local public policies (in terms of municipalities’ governance and local governments’ financial engagement) supporting urban economic development and local entrepreneurial presence (total number of active firms). Applying the general least square (GLS) method for over 4 years (2014–2017; n = 31,912 observations), we find that the financial autonomy of cities and their financial efforts toward international programs, agriculture, agri-food and fisheries, tourism, culture, and economic development policies favor entrepreneurial presence. Our conclusion, contributing to public management and policy literature, also highlights some limits of the research and some related opportunities for further research on the subject.

An Urban Turn in the Ethics of Migration?

Cette lecture critique discute l’ouvrage d’Avner de Shalit, Cities and Imigration: Political and Moral Dilemmas in the New Era of Migration . Après une contextualisation de l’ouvrage dans un tournant urbain des travaux en éthique des migrations, je présente les principaux développements de l’auteur concernant l’autonomie des villes à propos de leurs frontières, le droit de vote et de se présenter aux élections pour les étrangers résidents et la notion de ville inclusive. La discussion porte sur la méthodologie employée par l’auteur, les conditions normatives de chaque argument, et les enjeux pratiques de leurs applications.

Urban Transformations in the Culture of Santiago's Barrios

Within Santiago, Chile's capital city, Barrio is a fundamental urban concept: an identity of place that defines a social space more than the territorial boundary of a designated area. Nearly 30 years of sustained, economic growth have positioned Chile, and Santiago with 40% of the country's population, as a tourist, financial and investment centre for South America. After a general decline of the inner-city area during the time of dictatorship (1973-1990), three inner-city residential barrios are being re-defined by their social and urban heritage as part of the “coolest” city of South America. These residential barrios possess the social characteristics of an urban unit within the concept of an ethical city—autonomy, conviviality, connectivity and diversity—and, in form and use, the basis of urban cultural tourism, a living heritage of residential architecture, public space and urban culture. The spatial and economic transformation of these barrios shifts the existing dynamic between the residents' social capital and the barrios' symbolic capital to the question of whose rights and interest should prevail. Through a literature review, policy review and an analysis of morphology and land use of three barrios, this article draws lessons to assist a re-thinking of the development of this urban, social-spatial unit of Chilean cities.

Religious governance in the Spanish city: hands-on versus hands-off approaches to accommodating religious diversity in Barcelona and Madrid

ABSTRACTThis contribution examines divergent trajectories of religious governance in Madrid and Barcelona, two cities that have pursued distinct approaches to accommodating religious diversity despite being located in the same national context. Whereas Madrid has dealt with religious diversity under the broader rubric of immigration and culture, and has been largely passive and ‘hands-off’ in its approach to governance, Barcelona has demarcated religion from other cultural issues and developed a more proactive and ‘hands-on’ approach to governing religious diversity. In explaining this difference, our study builds on recent work highlighting the relative autonomy of cities vis-à-vis states in the definition and implementation of diversity policies. We trace the divergent patterns of religious governance in Madrid and Barcelona to differences in their respective political and territorial positioning. These differences have given rise to contrasting objectives, relations with national agencies, and local structures of opportunity for religious actors to enter into the governance process.

Do Cities and Counties Attempt to Circumvent Changes in Their Autonomy by Creating Special Districts?

This study uses 40 years of data from the U.S. Census of Governments to examine the impact of changes in local autonomy on the creation of the fastest growing form of local governments, special districts. Using fixed effects regression specified at the urban county and metropolitan statistical area level, we find that restrictions of fiscal autonomy of cities are associated with creation of new special districts. When the limits on fiscal autonomy interact with grants of functional autonomy, amplification occurs. We find no analogous effects for county governments. These two findings are consistent with the circumvention argument made in the local autonomy literature.

Transnational Support for Urban Climate Adaptation: Emerging Forms of Agency and Dependency

Transnational actors are critical for financing programs and generating awareness around climate change adaptation in cities. However, it is unclear whether transnational support actually enables more authority over adaptation actions and whether outcomes address wide-ranging development needs. In this article, I compare experiences from three cities in India—Surat, Indore, and Bhubaneswar—and link local political agency over adaptation with their supporting transnational funders. I find that adaptation governance involves powers of agency over directing bureaucratic practices, public finance, spatial strategies, and institutional culture. A city’s ability to exert these powers then yields different patterns of adaptation. However, political agency is circumscribed by a combination of historical political economic constraints and emerging transnational resources that promote specific forms of political meaning and procedures. The presence of external support therefore paradoxically constrains the governance autonomy of cities. This opens up new opportunities for development dependency—that is, ones that mirror neoliberal critiques of foreign aid—within the global marketplace for climate finance.

Do Cities and Counties Attempt to Circumvent Changes in Their Autonomy by Creating Special Districts?

This study uses forty years of data from the US Census of Governments to examine the impact of changes in local autonomy on the creation of the fastest growing form of local governments, special districts. Using fixed effects regression specified at the urban county and metropolitan statistical area level, we find that restrictions of fiscal autonomy of cities is associated with creation of new special districts. When the limits on fiscal autonomy interacts with grants of functional autonomy, amplification occurs. We find no analogous effects for county governments. These two findings are consistent with the circumvention argument made in the local autonomy literature.

Differentiation of financial autonomy of Polish cities from the perspective of regional develop- ment / Zróżnicowanie samodzielności finansowej miast na prawach powiatu w aspekcie rozwoju regionalnego

The present paper raises the issues of financial autonomy of Polish cities with regard to the aspect of social and economic development of provinces, in which they are located – the topic being of crucial importance both from the theoretical and practical point of view. The significance of the undertaken research follows mainly from the fact that self-reliance and autonomy of a city in the area of financial management are indispensable conditions for its functioning. What potentially leads cities to harmonious and sustainable development is the fact that they possess legal personality, complete their tasks on their own account, manage their property and have their own, independent of the state finances, financial system. In spite of the fact that the goal of a city is not to make maximum profits but to satisfy collective public needs, the most important aim of local self-government authorities while making financial decisions should be to manage their financial resources in a rational way but, at the same time, to keep in mind the priority of the public interest.

Senjsko parobrodarstvo i socioekonomske prilike na prijelazu iz 19. u 20. stoljeće

U radu se s povijesno-geografskog aspekta razmatra nastanak, razvoj i slabljenje senjskog parobrodarstva, ključnog elementa ukupnoga socijalnog i gospodarskog napretka Senja na prijelazu iz 19. u 20. stoljeće. Početkom 19. stoljeća senjska luka je bila, zahvaljujući posebnoj gradskoj autonomiji i suvremenoj cestovnoj povezanosti, jedno od najvažnijih pomorskih trgovačkih središta Hrvatskog primorja i Jadrana u cjelini, čiji su stanovnici važni sudionici u brojnim društvenim, gospodarskim i političkim previranjima. Zasigurno je i razvoj parobrodarstva omogućio Senjanima dobar položaj na sve zahtjevnijem ekonomskom tržištu. U radu se analiziraju i važni uzroci slabljenja senjskog gospodarstva koji su u vrijeme Kraljevine Jugoslavije Senj izolirali od do tada prevladavajućih pomorskih i gospodarskih silnica te bitno utjecali na opći socioekonomski život grada.

Was Weber Right? The Role of Urban Autonomy in Europe's Rise

Do strong property rights institutions always help, or might they sometimes actually hinder development? Since Max Weber and before, scholars have claimed that the presence of politically autonomous cities, controlled by merchant oligarchies guaranteeing property rights, helped lead to Europe's rise. Yet others suggest that autonomous cities were a hindrance to growth because rule by merchant guilds resulted in restrictions that stifled innovation and trade. I present new evidence and a new interpretation that reconcile the two views of city autonomy. I show that politically autonomous cities initially had higher population growth rates than nonautonomous cities, but over time this situation reversed itself. My evidence also suggests why autonomous cities eventually disappeared as a form of political organization. Instead of military weakness, it may have been their political institutions that condemned them to become obsolete.

Senjsko parobrodarstvo i socioekonomske prilike na prijelazu iz 19. u 20. stoljeće

U radu se s povijesno-geografskog aspekta razmatra nastanak, razvoj i slabljenje senjskog parobrodarstva, ključnog elementa ukupnoga socijalnog i gospodarskog napretka Senja na prijelazu iz 19. u 20. stoljeće. Početkom 19. stoljeća senjska luka je bila, zahvaljujući posebnoj gradskoj autonomiji i suvremenoj cestovnoj povezanosti, jedno od najvažnijih pomorskih trgovačkih središta Hrvatskog primorja i Jadrana u cjelini, čiji su stanovnici važni sudionici u brojnim društvenim, gospodarskim i političkim previranjima. Zasigurno je i razvoj parobrodarstva omogućio Senjanima dobar položaj na sve zahtjevnijem ekonomskom tržištu. U radu se analiziraju i važni uzroci slabljenja senjskog gospodarstva koji su u vrijeme Kraljevine Jugoslavije Senj izolirali od do tada prevladavajućih pomorskih i gospodarskih silnica te bitno utjecali na opći socioekonomski život grada.

The Empowerment of Canadian Cities: Classic Canadian Compromise

This article provides an overview and assessment of statutory reforms designed to empower Canadian cities during the past two decades. It reveals that toward that end, the reforms focused primarily on expanding each of the following: the authority and autonomy of cities in making bylaws, the authority and autonomy of cities in accessing and managing financial resources, and the requirements for some provincial government to consult and even enter into agreements with cities when enacting laws and regulations or undertaking initiatives that affect them. The article also reveals that although the reforms were substantial and significant for the empowerment of cities in many provinces, they were not highly transformative either in the level of authority and autonomy granted to cities or in their working relationships with provincial governments. Another finding is that despite the positive effects of many reforms, and because of some adverse effects of others, city and provincial officials suggest that some additional reforms are required to address problems that attenuate the capacity and flexibility of cities to provide good governance and management in the 21st century.

Kawasaki City Autonomy Fundamental Ordinance and its Citizen-based Autonomy as a Designated City

Kawasaki City Autonomy Fundamental Ordinance and its Citizen-based Autonomy as a Designated City

Local religion in colonial Mexico

Introduction The Concept of Popular Religion Icons of Devotion The Indian Question and the Case of Tlatelolco Between Nativitas and Mexico City Autonomy, Honour and the Ancestors Carriers of Saints Confraternities and Community Routes to Respectability Voices from a Living Hell Catholicisms Index.