Administrative Systems and Metropolitan Regions

Abstract

In recent years the two-tier model of metropolitan government has declined in importance as metropolitan authorities have been circumscribed, weakened, or abolished. At the same time, however, new urban patterns and changing political and economic circumstances are creating needs that point to the continued validity of the two-tier model. In particular, economic pressures resulting from global competition, and societal pressures associated with the need for sustainable development, are providing a basis for new responsibilities and new expectations with regard to metropolitan governance, and there continues to be a case for two scales of response. A major point of difference from the past is that the metropolitan scale is now much larger in spatial terms, and as a result it is useful to consider the upper tier in terms of regional or mesolevel government, and the concept of city-region, adapted to present-day circumstances, may provide a useful framework for future development. Recent proposals for Toronto are illustrative of the changing needs with regard to metropolitan government.