Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Structural Variation And Local Service Delivery: Comparing Municipal Governments And Special Purpose Bodies, Joseph R. Lyons

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In the debate over the governance of metropolitan areas, consolidationists favour single, area-wide, general purpose jurisdictions, while polycentrists make arguments in support of multiple, scale-specific, specialized jurisdictions. This dissertation contributes to this debate through comparisons of municipal and specialized service delivery in two Ontario cities. The cities of London and Hamilton represent positions along a continuum of fragmentation and consolidation, with London being more fragmented and Hamilton more consolidated. Comparisons are undertaken for three local government services: public health, economic development, and watershed management. In London, independent special purpose bodies deliver all three of these services, while in Hamilton the …

Regional Organization And The Dynamics Of Inter-Municipal Cooperation, Zachary Spicer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines the institution of city-county separation in Ontario. City-county separation was the original form of municipal organization in the province, introduced as a method of distinguishing between urban and rural areas by politically separating one from the other. Over time, this practice lost ground to institutions such as regional government, which sought to connect urban and rural areas. Despite this institutional shift, 18 cities and towns in Ontario remain separated from their counties, establishing a situation where some of the province’s most populous communities lack institutional linkages to their surrounding rural municipalities.

Exploring four different thematic areas – …