NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

/ Flynn, Alexandra; Albert, Richard; & Des Rosiers, Nathalie. (Eds.). — Montréal ; Kingston : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2024.

1 online resource (xiv, 282 pages) : PDF. — (McGill-Queen's studies in urban governance ; 18).

The essays consider and propose ways to address and recognize the growing importance of municipal governments within Canada's federalism under the Constitution. Topics addressed include aspects of municipal autonomy (i.e., legal empowerment, fiscal capacity and immunity); municipal equalization regimes; Québec's "spheres of jurisdiction" model; the principle of subsidiarity; Dillon rule; a legal test for subsidiarity; power sharing arrangements versus a government-centric model; instituting a duty to consult with Indigenous nations for municipalities; devolution and protection of cities through constitutional reform; and recognizing municipal governments in provincial constitutions.

/ McAllister, Mary Louise. — Vancouver : UBC Press, 2024.

1 online resource (xiii, 280 pages) : illustrations, maps, PDF.

The first part explores the evolution of Canadian local government, federalism and multi-level governance, and decision making and democracy at the local level. The second part focuses on how local governments are networked: intramunicipal collaboration (i.e., departmental), intermunicipal partnerships, partnerships with higher orders of government, public–private collaboration, city governments on the global stage, local partnerships, and smart cities. The final part examines how local governments are addressing sustainability, including ecosystem services/natural assets, food systems, an integrated systems approach to infrastructure, planning and designing for an inclusive and healthy urban environment, valuing community assets in economic development, and supporting adaptive and continuously improving public administration and governance.

/ Agrawal, Sandeep Kumar. (Ed.). — Edmonton, AB : University of Alberta Press, 2024.

1 online resource (vii, 221 pages) : graph, maps, PDF.

The book contains papers exploring two types of municipal boundary adjustments, the motivations and outcomes for boundary changes, related intermunicipal and provincial–municipal relations, and the impacts of boundary adjustments on land use policy and planning. It covers (1) municipal annexation in Alberta and Saskatchewan and (2) municipal amalgamations in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario. It compares annexation in Alberta with North Carolina. The introduction briefly reviews scholarship on municipal annexation and amalgamation in Canada. Key lessons are summarized in the afterword.

/ Brewer, Cam; Hammond, Herb; & Markey, Sean. — Vancouver : UBC Press, 2024.

1 online resource (xvi, 236 pages) : illustrations (chiefly colour), colour maps, PDF.

The book discusses the social, ecological and economic costs of removing nature from cities, the role of urban planning in removing nature from cities, green planning, the guiding principles of planning nature-first cities and urban ecosystem restoration, the challenges and processes of implementing nature-directed stewardship (NDS) in urban planning and design, and the development of an NDS plan for the Still Creek watershed in East Vancouver.

/ Flynn, Alexandra; Albert, Richard; & Des Rosiers, Nathalie. (Eds.). — Montréal ; Kingston : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2024.

1 online resource (xiv, 315 pages) : graphs, PDF. — (McGill-Queen's studies in urban governance ; 19).

The book is comprised of essays on the status, governance and powers of cities under Canada's Constitution. It is divided into three parts: (1) the legal history of cities, municipal financing and taxation, protection of democratic rights, and the Constitution; (2) present areas of conflict and innovation with respect to the status of municipalities, including municipal–Indigenous relations and the ability of cities to respond during the COVID-19 pandemic with the emergency powers granted to them; and (3) potential revisions to the constitutional model that would protect the powers and status of cities in Canada. It includes comparisons with the constitutional status and powers of cities in Brazil, Italy, Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai.

/ Larco, Nicolas & Knudson, Kaarin. — New York, NY ; Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, 2024.

1 online resource (xxv, 438 pages) : illustrations (chiefly colour), maps (some colour), PDF.

The handbook provides a framework of elements of sustainable urban design. It describes each element and addresses evaluation measures, estimated cost, difficulty of implementation, project scale, representative projects, research and best practices, background information, recommended and typical approaches, considerations and potential issues, and guidelines for urban design. The elements are divided by the geographical point of intervention (i.e., region and city, district and neighbourhood, block and street, and project and parcel) under five urban design topic areas: (1) energy use and greenhouse gas emissions of transportation and land use, (2) water, (3) ecology and habitat, (4) energy use and production (non-transportation), and (5) equity and health.