Government In Metropolitan Areas Research Articles

Influence of multilevel governance on land use change in China's rapidly urbanizing metropolitan from low-carbon perspective

Low-carbon oriented land use change is crucial to tackling climate change issues in rapidly urbanizing metropolitans. Previous studies lacked to consider how the cross-level interaction within multilevel governance of metropolitan areas affect the land use change. In order to simulate multilevel governance interaction, this study proposes a land use simulation model, facilitating a comparative analysis of simulated results under different scenarios. Taking Hangzhou as the empirical study area, the results show that the predicted scale of construction land with high carbon emissions is smallest in interactive governance scenario. Its overall low-carbon performance of land use is the best among all scenarios, with a Polycentric Degree of 0.7856 (N = 4) and 0.9142 (N = 6), and Cohesion Degree and Land-Use Degree Index are 101.8320 and 101.7944 respectively. This study revealed that the interactive governance effectively curbs the growth of land with high-carbon emissions, promoting the spatial carbon efficiency and the low-carbon oriented spatial layout. Multi-level governance provides a framework for effective implantation of low-carbon oriented land use change objective and plays an important role in promoting its low-carbon performance. This study innovatively incorporates governance parameters into the land use prediction model, providing guidance for optimizing land use governance in metropolitan areas.

Bargaining power and budget ratcheting: Evidence from South Korean local governments

Using the actual and budgeted expenditure data of 241 South Korean local governments from 2010 to 2015, we find that budget decreases in the case of underspending are larger than budget increases in the case of overspending, which is in contrast to the asymmetric budget ratcheting pattern documented in prior studies. More importantly, we find that budget increases in the case of overspending are stronger when government officials have greater bargaining power as proxied by local governments located in the metropolitan area, having greater fiscal independence, and being affiliated with the ruling party. In the case of underspending, budget decreases are larger for local governments in metropolitan areas but do not differ for levels of fiscal independence and the political affiliations of local government heads. Our findings imply that the patterns of budget ratcheting could be diverse based on how local government officials strategically respond to the dynamics between bargaining power and the pressure of justifying budgets. We suggest that “justifying budgets” could safeguard public resources from inefficient budgeting.

Strategies and Governance of Metropolitan Areas: Focusing on Gyeongsangnam-do and Chungcheongnam-do

Strategies and Governance of Metropolitan Areas: Focusing on Gyeongsangnam-do and Chungcheongnam-do

Governance of metropolitan areas for delivery of public services in Latin America

One of the key issues at metropolitan level is the provision of public services and this paper highlights the importance of understanding the governance of public services in the context of increasing urbanization and decentralization. This paper provides a comparative analysis on metropolitan governance in Latin America by analysing specific case studies. The objective is to identify how the governance setting in metropolitan areas shapes the process anthe results of providing public services to wider population. We examine metropolitan governance by employing a 3x3x3 model as a framework for addressing key issues about urban services delivery. Bogota, Lima and Mexico City are the metropolitan areas selected. Secondly, we focus on three sectors: transport, solid waste collection and water. Finally, the analysis focuses in three aspects of governance: coordination, financial sustainability and coverage and quality. The data collection process involved field research in Bogota, Lima and Mexico City.

The role of public mass catering in local foodshed governance toward self-reliance of Metropolitan regions

European Union policy promotes the redesigning of food systems, with special focus on peri-urban agriculture and the metropolitan regions food self-sufficiency. In this context, the study has evaluated the feasibility of “urban food procurement model” (URP-model); which is prepared based on the institutional mass catering fed by local and short supply chains, considering Milan metropolitan region a case study. A methodology was proposed to assess the potential food-self-reliance, and data-driven and geographical mapping approaches were used to define the foodshed’ borders, on the basis of spatial information about local supply and demand. The URP-Model was evaluated via SWOT analysis with the main actors having a key role in the local food policy and public mass catering management. Results indicated the local supply chains that could be involved into the URP-model and their potential contribution to the public institutions food self-reliance. The related opportunity maps show the extension of foodshed for different foodstuff categories. An overview about the barriers for the URP-model development and about its potential as tool to going toward food smart governance of metropolitan areas, is provided. The results can be effective for the planning of food system by the authorities involved with the public mass catering.

The institutional history of Milan metropolitan area

ABSTRACTThe institutional history of Milan metropolitan area. Territory, Politics, Governance. This paper highlights the long-term institutional trajectory of the Milan metropolitan area in Italy using comparative-historical analysis. Although technical and political proposals of metropolitan institutions in Milan have been debated over the last 70 years, empirical evidence shows that the Milan metropolitan area still lacks clear rules for political integration and effective spatial tools for policy-making. In order to explain this outcome, the paper adopts a narrow definition of ‘path dependency’ and tests it in two different processes of institutional change: land-use planning at the metropolitan scale, and the organization of local governments in metropolitan areas. The paper finds that in both processes, initial episodes of institutional change, promoted by reformist coalitions, were co-determined by ‘contingent events’: unpredictable circumstances exceeding the control of reformers. It also finds that, in both processes, outcomes of subsequent episodes of institutional change were co-determined by ‘increasing returns’: the reinforcement of previously crystallized configurations of powers and interests. Therefore, the paper reveals the historical events and socio-political dynamics that determined the ‘path dependency’ of institutional outcomes at the metropolitan scale in Milan. It argues that ongoing metropolitan institutional dynamics can be better explained by the absence of a land-use reform and the persistence of direct election of mayors.

Place Matters: The Spatial Effects of Human Service Expenditures

AbstractPlace matters in human services. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) devolves spending to services, most often provided by nonprofit organizations. We argue that this devolution allows for people to “vote with their feet” (Ostrom, Tiebout, and Warren 1961: “The organization of government in metropolitan areas: A theoretical inquiry.”AmericanPolitical Science Review 55:831–42) in seeking jurisdictions where there will be more spending on human services. This paper considers the spatial patterns of human service expenditures, arguing that people of lower Socio-Economic Status (SES) are less likely to benefit from higher human service spending. We use a spatial Durbin regression to indicate the effects of SES on expenditures in a home county as well as the spillover effect to surrounding counties. The results show that while human service expenditures increase as African American and Renter populations increase in a home county, they also indicate that neighboring counties free-ride on the efforts of the home jurisdiction. Likewise, as a population ages, there is a very large free-riding effect. We conclude that the decentralized TANF policy regime allows for jurisdictions to specialize in human services.

Governing metropolitan areas: growth and change in a networked age

Interest and research on regionalism has soared in the last decade. Local governments in metropolitan areas and civic organizations are increasingly engaged in cooperative and collaborative public policy efforts to solve problems that stretch across urban centers and their surrounding suburbs. Yet there remains scant attention in textbooks to the issues that arise in trying to address metropolitan governance. Governing Metropolitan Areas describes and analyzes structure to understand the how and why of regionalism in our global age. The book covers governmental institutions and their evolution to governance, but with a continual focus on institutions. David Hamilton provides the necessary comprehensive, in-depth description and analysis of how metropolitan areas and governments within metropolitan areas developed, efforts to restructure and combine local governments, and governance within the polycentric urban region.This second edition is a major revision to update the scholarship and current thinking on regional governance. While the text still provides background on the historical development and growth of urban areas and governments' efforts to accommodate the growth of metropolitan areas, this edition also focuses on current efforts to provide governance through cooperative and collaborative solutions. There is also now extended treatment of how regional governance outside the United States has evolved and how other countries are approaching regional governance.

If Different, then Why? Explaining the Divergent Political Development of Canadian and American Local Governance

Twenty-five years ago, Goldberg and Mercer argued that differences between Canadian and American cities stemmed from distinct political cultures. Taking an alternative approach, this article surveys the historical development, through a series of critical junctures, of distinct institutional foundations of local government and intergovernmental relations in Canada. These institutional forms—greater reliance on general-purpose local government and more consolidated government in metropolitan areas—were the product of the incremental development of provincial capacities to manage municipal affairs absent in American states and have resulted in the more equitable provision of services and a greater capacity to manage urban economic and environmental change.

Metropolitan governance in the federalist Americas: strategies for equitable and integrated development

Despite rapid metropolitanization throughout the and widespread interest in megacities, few studies have examined the new governance structures needed to address issues of citizen representation and participation and the public service challenges of population expansion and increasing urban inequalities. To fill that void, Peter K. Spink, Peter M. Ward, Robert H. Wilson, and the other contributors to this volume provide original research and analysis of the principal metropolitan areas in six federalist countries of the Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the United States, and Venezuela. They find that a common feature of metropolitan expansion is the lack of a unified governmental structure. Using a comparative research framework, they examine the forms, functions, legitimacy, and performance of emerging governmental structures.Their cross-national study shows that existing institutional structures and political systems impede collaboration among governments in metropolitan areas. Given both the relatively few successful models at the local level and the disinterest on the part of federal governments, regional governments states and provinces seem to provide the most pragmatic bases for constructing metropolitan governments that are capable of efficiently delivering services. Because there is no direct path to achieve such new structures, the authors urge reform at the state and local levels to address the need to work out the politics and management structures that will function best within their own politics. Metropolitan Governance in the Federalist Americas makes an important contribution to the broader debate on subnational governance and to the specific debate on metropolitan governance. The authors provide an excellent, accessible description and explanation of the wide variation in forms, rules, and outcomes associated with metropolitan governance in the Americas. A significant and useful feature of the volume is the authors inclusion of case studies: they allow the reader to think productively about political history, economics, and the sociocultural context. Brian Wampler, Boise State University

Towards the New Regionalism Approach in the Metropolitan Governance of Turkey

The Greater Municipality Law (no. 5216) was enacted in 2004 in order to coordinate the governance of metropolitan areas in Turkey. In fact, this law has been a part of the restructuring process of the government in public domain as well as of the centralization and metropolitan governance approaches. However, the evaluation of this law displays many conflicts and uncertainties discussed by this study. Analysing the Law no. 5216, this study explores the case of Izmir Greater Municipality from the aspects of metropolitan governance approaches. The study findings suggest that this law conflicts with the issues of functionality along with its definition of metropolitan area boundaries, has problems related to the boundaries, efficiency and incomes of the district municipalities, causes complexities about the distribution of authority between district municipalities and greater municipalities in an unbalanced structure of responsibility and authority for planning issues, and has uncertainties related to the principles of sustainable planning and participation processes.

Inter-Communal Associations – the Future of Metropolitan Area Management?

Abstract A metropolitan area is a special form of territorial organisation composed of many territorial units. To ensure their development it is necessary to introduce an appropriate system of management based on the concept of governance which requires that all stakeholders (local authorities, central government, business, researchers, NGOs, citizens etc.) are involved in the management process. The article aims to ascertain whether intercommunal associations can become the first step on the way to implementation of the concept of governance in metropolitan areas in Poland. The article describes features of inter-communal associations as a form of management of territorial systems. The second part of the article analyses existing inter-communal associations in Polish metropolitan areas. The article concludes that the current state of affairs does not justify a statement that inter-communal associations are or will become, in the immediate future, a dominant form of managing public affairs in metropolitan areas.

Transportation Management Associations: Prospects and Problems for Public Administration

Transportation management districts (TMAs) are nonprofits formed by local business owners to solve transportation problems in their immediate areas. They have grown in numbers since the early ‘80s and have also expanded their influence on transportation policy, especially when affiliated with business improvement districts (BIDs). Both TMAs and BIDs reflect the increasing role of private business organizations in public policy; they are part of the increasing privatization since the early ‘80s, promoted by public choice theorists. Their growth and increasing policy influence requires us to expand our notion of public administration and see these organizations as full-fledged agents in the governance of metropolitan areas.

Local government and the governance of metropolitan areas in Latin America

AbstractTwo of the most important trends occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean during the past quarter century have been rapid urbanisation and government decentralisation. With approximately 75% of its 520 million inhabitants living in urban areas, the region has seen the emergence of such mega‐cities as Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico City and Sao Paulo. At the same time, the region, partly on its own and partly prodded by international organisations and donors, has been struggling with the issue of decentralising its historically highly centralised national governments and strengthening its traditionally very weak and highly dependent local governments. In this article, the authors examine local governance structures in several major urban areas of Latin America in order to understand how these two sometimes highly contradictory developments are impacting upon the governance of metropolitan areas and the resolution of the major problems facing them. Particular attention is paid to emerging cooperative arrangements that may in the future help to address significant metropolitan area issues. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The governance of metropolitan areas in Canada

AbstractThis article briefly examines five significant Canadian developments with respect to the governance of metropolitan areas: annexations and mergers such that there is one main municipal government for the metropolitan area, two‐tier metropolitan government, the amalgamation of two‐tier metropolitan systems into a single municipality, demergers in Quebec, and the creation of flexible and innovative entities for metropolitan governance. Special attention is paid to the Greater Toronto Area, a continuous built‐up urban area that transcends at least three metropolitan areas as defined by Statistics Canada. In the absence of any authority covering the entire metropolitan area, it now appears that the Ontario provincial government is becoming the key policy maker. As an example of a flexible and innovative form of metropolitan governance, the Greater Vancouver Regional District merits attention elsewhere in the world. Canada's experiences with so many different institutional arrangements in recent years means that there is much to be learnt from their obvious failures and occasional successes. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Government Centralization‐Decentralization Debate in Metropolitan Areas

AbstractThe extent of centralized or decentralized government has been an issue in America's governing system since the Revolutionary War. The major issues debated at the Constitutional Convention revolved around the amount of authority the national government should possess in relation to the states. The centralization‐decentralization issue is still a matter of contention, but a major focus of the debate has shifted to the metropolitan area. Despite the differences in time and levels of governments, many of the same arguments made during the constitutional debates are similar to the arguments made for and against government reform in metropolitan areas today. The author reconsiders the centralization‐decentralization issues debated at the Constitutional Convention and the ratification fight in the context of the current debate in metropolitan areas. Theoretical support for this exercise is provided by the international relations model. An application of the issues debated and resolved by the colonists to the current debate on the extent of centralized government in metropolitan areas would favor the establishment of metropolitan government.

Metropolitan natural area protection to maximize public access and species representation

In response to widespread urban development, local governments in metropolitan areas in the United States acquire and protect privately-owned open space. We addressed the planner’s problem of allocating a fixed budget for open space protection among eligible natural areas with the twin objectives of maximizing public access and species representation. Both objectives were incorporated into a discrete, 0–1 integer optimization model and applied to a problem with 68 sites, 61 species, and 34 towns in the Chicago metropolitan area. Increasing required species representation reduced the maximum number of towns with access to reserves, and the tradeoff between species representation and site accessibility increased as the budget was reduced. The definition of site accessibility affected optimal reserve design. A town had access if a specified number of reserves was located within a specified distance from the town. Increasing the distance standard resulted in more, smaller sites protected in a uniform spatial pattern. Increasing the minimum number of sites required to be within a distance standard caused the selection of clusters of sites near a few towns. The study adds a new dimension to reserve site selection models by including site accessibility as a goal.

Metropolitan Governance Structure and Income Growth

There has long been debate on the extent to which the structure of government in metropolitan areas helps or hinders income growth. Polycentrists contend that numerous local governments lead to competition that streamlines government, produces services at least cost, and leads to higher incomes. Centristts argue that large, multiple service governments have scale economies leading to more efficient production of services and hence higher incomes. What matters to regionalists is whether there is a metropolitan governance arrangement that effects an improvement in the distribution of economic activity that increases income. Which school of thought is right? This article evaluates the association between metropolitan governance structures and growth in per capita personal income among <287 of the largest metropolitan statistical areas for the period 1976 to 1996. After controlling for several factors, we find empirical support for the centrist and regionalist schools of thought but very little support for the polycentrist school.

Friends and Competitors: Policy Interactions between Local Governments in Metropolitan Areas

This article explores intergovernmental policy interactions between cen tral city, county, and suburban city governments in 186 metropolitan ar eas. Two hypotheses are developed to test the existence and shape of intergovernmental policy interactions between these governments. A com petition hypothesis, based on Tiebout's 1956 concept of interjurisdictional competition, posits that counties and cities compete in the developmen tal policy area by matching what other cities and counties do. A coopera tion hypothesis, based on the notion of the functional arrangements between local governments, posits that counties and cities cooperate in the public safety and education policy areas by supplementing others' policies or by substituting their policies with others' policies. The results of an analysis of local government expenditures indicate that local gov ernments compete as well as cooperate at the intergovernmental level and that intergovernmental policy competition is weaker than interjuris dictional policy competition. The article ends with a series of discussions on possible changes in the current local government system to mitigate the competition between cities and their counties.

Friends and Competitors: Policy Interactions between Local Governments in Metropolitan Areas

Friends and Competitors: Policy Interactions between Local Governments in Metropolitan Areas