In 2005, firearm homicides in Toronto spiked to unprecedented levels, prompting mainstream media to label 2005 as the ‘Year of the Gun’. While the majority of those killed were young black men in Toronto’s impoverished post-war suburbs, the shooting death of a young white woman downtown reframed the problem of gun violence in popular and policy discourse from the perspective of those it least affected: the predominantly white middle-classes in the gentrified urban core. This dissertation attempts to situate dominant narratives of the problem of gun violence and policy responses to it as an event in a history of Toronto, especially with reference to transformations in urban space and governance. It argues that the Year of the Gun can be understood as a destabilizing moment in the city’s collective history that helped normalize ways of narrating and governing a growing socio-spatial divide between the city and the post-war suburbs. Through analyses of government proceedings, media discourse, social scientific research, participant observation, and key informant interviews it identifies how intersecting discourses, practices and representations framed racialized poverty and crime in ways that further solidified causal links between the two. It offers a history for these causal links, illustrating how race and space have long played a vital role in real and imagined divisions between the city and its suburbs. It explores the formation and administration of three policy approaches responding to the crisis: a municipal policy framework for social investment, a targeted policing strategy, and non-profit faith-based programs for young black men. It analyses how each defined social problems for government in ways that eclipsed broader processes generating social inequality in the city. The findings of this research suggest that dominant narratives and practices governing poverty and crime have prevented public discussions about the racialized architecture of neoliberal urbanism while enforcing one of suburban decline. They have prevented dialogue about the correlation between whiteness and wealth in the core, while enforcing causal relations between blackness, poverty and crime in the suburbs. And they have prevented critiques about the surveillance of the city’s young black men, while enforcing projections of these same men through the prism of masculinist culture.

In 2005, firearm homicides in Toronto spiked to unprecedented levels, prompting mainstream media to label 2005 as the ‘Year of the Gun’. While the majority of those killed were young black men in Toronto’s impoverished post-war suburbs, the shooting death of a young white woman downtown reframed the problem of gun violence in popular and policy discourse from the perspective of those it least affected: the predominantly white middle-classes in the gentrified urban core. This dissertation attempts to situate dominant narratives of the problem of gun violence and policy responses to it as an event in a history of Toronto, especially with reference to transformations in urban space and governance. It argues that the Year of the Gun can be understood as a destabilizing moment in the city’s collective history that helped normalize ways of narrating and governing a growing socio-spatial divide between the city and the post-war suburbs. Through analyses of government proceedings, media discourse, social scientific research, participant observation, and key informant interviews it identifies how intersecting discourses, practices and representations framed racialized poverty and crime in ways that further solidified causal links between the two. It offers a history for these causal links, illustrating how race and space have long played a vital role in real and imagined divisions between the city and its suburbs. It explores the formation and administration of three policy approaches responding to the crisis: a municipal policy framework for social investment, a targeted policing strategy, and non-profit faith-based programs for young black men. It analyses how each defined social problems for government in ways that eclipsed broader processes generating social inequality in the city. The findings of this research suggest that dominant narratives and practices governing poverty and crime have prevented public discussions about the racialized architecture of neoliberal urbanism while enforcing one of suburban decline. They have prevented dialogue about the correlation between whiteness and wealth in the core, while enforcing causal relations between blackness, poverty and crime in the suburbs. And they have prevented critiques about the surveillance of the city’s young black men, while enforcing projections of these same men through the prism of masculinist culture.

No description available.

Cities everywhere are struggling to develop strategic responses to vast and rapid economic changes brought about by globalization while mediating the social impact of economic change. Workforce development is a policy area that straddles the divide between economic development and social welfare imperatives. This thesis examines local networks supporting workforce development activities in three Ontario cities in order to better understand the dynamics of urban governance in Canada. The analysis focuses on the two central questions of whether cities have the political autonomy to develop their own strategic workforce development networks, and if so, do these networks reflect efforts to integrate economic development and social welfare considerations. It engages with three theoretical perspectives that offer different explanations for local governance dynamics: neo-institutionalist theories argue that higher institutional structures shape and constrain local governance efforts; the critique of neo-liberalism argues that local governance dynamics will be dominated by the interests of capital for economic development; and theories of urban governance argue that cities have the autonomy to shape their own governance efforts. Theories of urban governance also focus analytical attention on how the patterns of interaction between local state and non-state actors shape local governance dynamics. The study does find evidence of local workforce development networks, and finds that these networks vary according to the patterns of interaction between local state and non-state actors. From a neo-institutionalist perspective, however, the study also finds that macro-institutional policy frameworks shape and constrain these local governance efforts.

Cities everywhere are struggling to develop strategic responses to vast and rapid economic changes brought about by globalization while mediating the social impact of economic change. Workforce development is a policy area that straddles the divide between economic development and social welfare imperatives. This thesis examines local networks supporting workforce development activities in three Ontario cities in order to better understand the dynamics of urban governance in Canada. The analysis focuses on the two central questions of whether cities have the political autonomy to develop their own strategic workforce development networks, and if so, do these networks reflect efforts to integrate economic development and social welfare considerations. It engages with three theoretical perspectives that offer different explanations for local governance dynamics: neo-institutionalist theories argue that higher institutional structures shape and constrain local governance efforts; the critique of neo-liberalism argues that local governance dynamics will be dominated by the interests of capital for economic development; and theories of urban governance argue that cities have the autonomy to shape their own governance efforts. Theories of urban governance also focus analytical attention on how the patterns of interaction between local state and non-state actors shape local governance dynamics. The study does find evidence of local workforce development networks, and finds that these networks vary according to the patterns of interaction between local state and non-state actors. From a neo-institutionalist perspective, however, the study also finds that macro-institutional policy frameworks shape and constrain these local governance efforts.

No description available.

The Olympic Games are now characterized by overt displays of military personnel and hardware, the deployment of new surveillance technologies and policing techniques, and rapidly escalating budgets. Yet, most research on security at these urban events has been confined to the sociology of sport or the applied profession of sport management. This dissertation contextualizes the Olympic Games within current debates about security in the post-9/11 environment, and asks what the Games reveal about developments in security, surveillance, and urban governance. At the same time I also ask how the Olympics reinforce and extend these developments in socio-cultural ways. These questions are pursued through four analyses of different aspects of the Games: practices of socio-spatial regulation in Olympic host cities, ideas of resiliency and preparedness in urban governance, the performative dimensions of precautionary governance, and the production and globalization of security expertise. I conclude by suggesting that the Olympics provide a window into future directions in urban security governance.

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / This study investigates how political dynamics impacted on service delivery in urban areas of Zimbabwe in general and, SPECIFICALLY, in the cities of Harare, Bulawayo, Masvingo and Mutare. The problematic of urban governance in these cities has been marked by contestation, confusion and change for a range of reason which would seem to be associated with issues of planning and management of urban areas, infrastructure such as provision and maintenance of roads, housing, public transport and water and sanitation. Consequently, these urban governance contestations almost led to the collapse of most if not all, urban functions and services in the aforementioned urban areas. That Zimbabwe is suffering from a crisis of governance and public service delivery for decades is not in doubt. In this thesis, I argue that whilst much attention has been given to state governance, it is at the local governance level where the impacts of the crisis are more severe. Why at the local governance level? Local government is mandated to deliver directly or indirectly key human development services to citizens. Inevitably, urban governance is an important determinant of urban services delivery. Urban governance takes place within a wider governance and political context. Post-independent urban Zimbabwe was dominated by the Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) until the turn of the millennium. When the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) began dominating urban local authorities, urban governance signaled an era marked by contestation, confusion and change. Subsequent urban governance political dynamics had profound impacts on service delivery.

The world is home to predominantly urbanized populations that continue to grow. In an increasingly urbanized world, cities suffer from various challenges, including urban poverty and food insecurity, which result in unsustainability, health concerns, and crime increase. Many reasons affect urban poverty, including controversial government policies, an imbalance between existing resources and demands, and inefficient urban management and planning. Integrating urban agriculture (UA) into development policies can alleviate urban poverty and food insecurity in cities. Therefore, a line of research seems necessary to gain a better understanding of various ways to boost food production and improve sustainability in cities. To this end, the present study attempts to investigate the role of urban planning and governance in community gardens in Victoria to examine how urban planning and governance can support food production. A qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews and community mapping workshops were used within three groups of governmental, non-governmental, and residential actors in Victoria, Canada. Eighteen participants were interviewed, and eight participants took part in workshops held in the James Bay and Fernwood neighbourhoods. The three proposed research questions in this study were analyzed by thematic analysis using NVivo 10 software. The findings revealed that nine themes should be considered to improve food production in Victoria. The themes include improving UA economic efficiency, increasing awareness, gaining community satisfaction, effective landuse policies, productive partnership, improving the long bureaucratic procedure, offering grants, providing resources and facilities for gardeners, and changes in existing zoning bylaws. In addition, the findings of the workshops show that the City of Victoria plays the most crucial role in UA projects. Study results reveal that the compost education center, residents, and community centres should create an active partnership with the City towards improving community gardens. / Graduate

<p>This paper analyses the solid waste management (SWM) process in Nairobi, Kenya and studies the roles and actions of the actors involved in this process, putting emphasis on the role of informal actors and their relationship with the city authorities. Based on semistructured interviews and participant observation conducted on the field in Nairobi, Kenya, the results of this paper suggest that the role of informal waste collectors in the Kibera settlement is essential. In most parts of Kibera, the municipal SWM seems to be non-existent. Thus the collection and transport is often carried out by informal waste collector groups. Furthermore, the relationship between informal actors and authorities is highly complex and ambivalent. The local authorities claim to have acknowledged the important role of the informal actors; however the latter are more or less neglected by the NCC in the overall solid waste management sector.</p>