Metropolitics

In Search of Grand Paris: Pierre Mansat on the Eve of the June 2020 Municipal Elections

Magda Maaoui & Pierre Mansat — 2020-06-26T05:00:00Z

Magda Maaoui interviews Pierre Mansat, former deputy mayor of Paris and a founding father of “le Grand Paris” (the metropolitan authority for Greater Paris), about Grand Paris and the limits of political action at the municipal level in light of the upcoming municipal elections.
Less than a week before 12 million Parisians vote in the second round of elections for their mayors and their municipal councils, which has now been delayed from March 22 to June 28 owing to the coronavirus lockdown,

- Interviews / Grand Paris, Grand Paris Express, Greater Paris, Paris region, Paris, Île-de-France, France, banlieue, suburbs, metropolitan areas, metropolitan restructuring, metropolis, territorial equality, territorial reform, governance, local governance, metropolization, coronavirus, Covid-19, public transportation, transport, mass transit, intercommunality

Is rurality a thing of the past?

Philippe Dubourg & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-01-08T05:50:00Z

In the era of globalisation and metropolisation, is rurality an old-fashioned concept, a thing of the past? The arsenal of reforms and laws that have been passed – indeed, often forced through – in recent years in France seems to give weight to this idea, while the economic crisis has proved to be the perfect opportunity to (dis)unite small local authorities under the steamroller of global finance.
Metropolisation means concentrating not only economic life but also collective human existence

- Debates / France, rural, governance, local governance, intercommunality, village, metropolization, territorial equality

The mixed success of Toronto's metropolitan merger

Guillaume Poiret & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-11-20T05:50:00Z

While the debate on local-government reform rages on in France, Guillaume Poiret looks back at the municipal mergers that took place in Toronto in 1997. Although amalgamation has not resulted in the kind of demergers seen in Montreal, it has not had the anticipated economic benefits either, and leaves the metropolitan question – and the attendant democratic challenges – unanswered.
Since the City of Toronto Act, or Bill 103, of 17 December 1997, the City of Toronto has comprised the former

- From the Field / governance, local governance, intercommunality, metropolis, territorial reform, Canada, Toronto

The politics of municipal mergers (and demergers) in Montreal

Richard Harris — 2013-03-06T05:55:00Z

In the late 1990s, the province of Quebec reacted to metropolitan growth in Montreal by merging the city with 27 of its suburbs, provoking a major debate and, ultimately, a number of demergers. An account written by one of the leading opponents to amalgamation (and ex-mayor of one of the demerged suburbs) discusses the experience and the issues at stake, providing a timely counterpoint to the French debate on “Greater Paris”.
Detailed accounts of municipal amalgamation can be exciting. Who

- Reviews / local government, decentralization, governance, democracy, local finance, local governance, local authorities, intercommunality, Montreal, Canada

Intercommunality, or the broken promises of local democracy

Stéphane Cadiou & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-01-16T12:05:47Z

As a new territorial reform is set to be enacted in France, what lessons can be learned from past reforms? In La Politique confisquée, Fabien Desage and David Guéranger describe a “backdrop of disenchantment” with regard to intermunicipal structures: mayors appear to have monopolised these new “intercommunalities”, with representative democracy seemingly replaced by something more opaque.
In France, intercommunalities – intermunicipal structures covering several communes (municipalities) that

- Reviews / governance, local councillors, intercommunality, local democracy, territorial reform

Why isn't there enough housing in France?

Jean-Claude Driant & translated by Oliver Waine — 2012-01-11T06:00:00Z

The idea that France is experiencing a serious housing deficit, requiring a massive home-building policy is the starting point for many debates. Previously in Metropolitics, Jean-Claude Driant questioned the relevance of this solution, asking “Why build new housing?”. Here, he re-examines the causes of the affordable housing deficit and, in particular, the notion of a lack of available land.
What is the true extent of the housing deficit in France? In the initial analysis, if there really

- Debates / construction, housing, social housing, real estate, property, local urban development plan, land, intercommunality