Building Communities Through Local Government

The Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies program of studies focuses on citizenship, identity and democratic processes of decision-making within our society. Students explore ways to participate in democratic processes, be involved in their communities and develop beliefs, values and attitudes that empower them to effect change. The topic of local government is a natural place for students to investigate how issues, challenges and decisions are dealt with in communities. The Building Communities Through Local Government resources provide opportunities for students to explore local government in the context of their own and other communities. The resources support General Outcome 6.1 of the Alberta Social Studies program of studies. They are based on a fundamental assumption that students should be involved in decision-making and encouraged to consider ways that they can be active, participatory and engaged citizens.

American metropolitan areas today are divided into neighborhoods of privilege and poverty, often along lines of ethnicity and race. City residents traveling through these neighborhoods move from feeling at home to feeling like tourists to feeling so out of place they fear for their security. As Gerald Frug shows, this divided and inhospitable urban landscape is not simply the result of individual choices about where to live or start a business. It is the product of government policies--and, in particular, the policies embedded in legal rules. A Harvard law professor and leading expert on urban affairs, Frug presents the first-ever analysis of how legal rules shape modern cities and outlines a set of alternatives to bring down the walls that now keep city dwellers apart. Frug begins by describing how American law treats cities as subdivisions of states and shows how this arrangement has encouraged the separation of metropolitan residents into different, sometimes hostile groups. He explains in clear, accessible language the divisive impact of rules about zoning, redevelopment, land use, and the organization of such city services as education and policing. He pays special attention to the underlying role of anxiety about strangers, the widespread desire for good schools, and the pervasive fear of crime. Ultimately, Frug calls for replacing the current legal definition of cities with an alternative based on what he calls "community building"--an alternative that gives cities within the same metropolitan region incentives to forge closer links with each other. An incisive study of the legal roots of today's urban problems, City Making is also an optimistic and compelling blueprint for enabling American cities once again to embrace their historic role of helping people reach an accommodation with those who live in the same geographic area, no matter how dissimilar they are.

This White Paper sets out the Government's plans for a second phase of reforms of the police service in England and Wales. The reforms detailed have three broad objectives: i) the creation of dedicated neighbourhood policing teams across the country, including police constables, community support officers (CSOs) and wardens, designed to make the service more accessible, accountable and visible in the community; ii) further modernisation of the police workforce with more capacity for front-line policing, including 25,000 new community support officers and wardens by 2008, a new improvement agency to ensure policing is driven by intelligence, good practice and performance monitoring, and an enhanced training and career development structure to improve leadership and management skills at all levels; and iii) greater citizen involvement in determining how their local communities are policed, including minimum national service standards for every force by 2006, that can be built on locally. These reforms are designed to embed a strong, responsive customer service culture throughout the police service, and to help build trust and confidence in relations between the police and the public.

The federal government and its policies transform Canadian cities in myriad ways. Canada in Cities examines this relationship to better understand the interplay among changing demographics, how local governments and citizens frame their arguments for federal action, and the ways in which the national government uses its power and resources to shape urban Canada. Most studies of local governance in Canada focus on politics and policy within cities. The essays in this collection turn such analysis on its head, by examining federal programs, rather than municipal ones, and observing how they influence local policies and work with regional authorities and civil societies. Through a series of case studies - ranging from federal policy concerning Aboriginal people in cities, to the introduction of the federal gas tax transfer to municipalities, to the impact of Canada's emergency management policies on cities - the contributors provide insights about how federal politics influence the local political arena. Analyzing federal actions in diverse policy fields, the authors uncover meaningful patterns of federal action and outcome in Canadian cities. A timely contribution, Canada in Cities offers a comprehensive study of diverse areas of municipal public policy that have emerged in Canada in recent years.