Neither the right nor the left of Michigan politics likes the fact that the state governor has appointed an emergency financial manager to take control of the City of Detroit, but as Isidoros Kyrlangitses shows, the new manager will be critical in calming the municipal bond market and preventing infrastructure costs from inflating across the US.
Africa is not urbanising as rapidly as we think. What are the implications for the business world, or for the possibilities for local economic development?
Singapore's experience suggests that housing supply can be increased only when matched by aggressive demand-side policies.
The current slum rehabilitation scheme creates incentives for developers to distort the housing market; civil society must challenge the rhetoric of 'free housing' to allow leaders to consider alternatives.
While governments remain focused on economic indicators and the image a city projects, writers who wish to remain egalitarian must discount both of these in favour of the basic needs of all people.
Isidoros Kyrlangitses argues that while Detroit's "home rule" status gives local voters greater influence, its pro-residents policies result in population decline, whereas Toronto's limited powers induce a focus on pro-development policies that encourage population growth.
Oli Mould is a lecturer in human geography with a passion for researching and writing about the creative practices of cities--both those that…
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The Global Urbanist is an online magazine reviewing urban affairs and urban development issues in cities throughout the developed and developing world.
Its readers are drawn from the urban policy and international development sectors, and include urban planners, officers in local, national or international government agencies, civil society leaders, and researchers.
