Governance and Finance of Metropolitan Areas in Federal Systems. This item is unavailable.Governance and Finance of Metropolitan Areas in Federal Systems

This volume examines the governing structure and finances of metropolitan areas in federal systems. Taking a comparative approach, each chapter examines two large metropolitan areas in a federal country, including Australia (South East Queensland and Perth); Brazil (Belo Horizonte and São Paulo); Canada (Toronto and Vancouver); Germany (Hamburg and Central Germany); India (Hyderabad and Mumbai); South Africa (Cape Town and Gauteng metropolitan region); Spain (Barcelona and Madrid); Switzerland (Geneva and Zurich); and the United States (Louisville and Los Angeles).

Through individual case studies, the contributors present the national context for metropolitan areas (for example, whether local governments are in the national constitution) and the characteristics of two metropolitan areas in the country. The contributors emphasize how the delivery of services is coordinated across municipal boundaries, the extent to which land use planning is coordinated on a metropolitan-wide basis, how costs are shared throughout the region, the level of citizen access to local government decisions, and the degree of local government accountability. As well, they discuss the role of the federal and provincial/state governments in these large metropolitan areas and, in particular, the circumstances under which the federal government gets involved in metropolitan issues.

Illustrated with nearly 100 figures, tables, and maps, this comprehensive overview presents a valuable collection of contributions from the field's top scholars.

Dr. Enid Slack is Director of the Institute of Municipal Governance and Finance at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, and is one of Canada's foremost experts in municipal finance. She has been working in this field for over 30 years and is respected nationally and internationally for her research on property taxes and other aspects of municipal finance. Rupak Chattopadhyay, is president and CEO of the Forum of Federations. He was closely involved with the peace process in Sri Lanka and discussions on constitutional reforms in the Philippines in his previous capacity as director, Asia-Pacific programs. He was also a member of the Consultative Group on the Study of Intergovernmental Relations and Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, Inter-State Council, Government of India.