Municipal / city government Books

Book SynopsisOnce upon a time, a group of libertarians got together and hatched the Free Town Project, a plan to take over an American town and completely eliminate its government. In 2004, Grafton, NH, a barely populated settlement with one paved road, turned that plan into reality.Public funding for pretty much everything shrank: the fire department, the library, the schoolhouse. State and federal laws didn't disappear, but they got quieter: meek suggestions barely heard in the town's thick wilderness.The bears, on the other hand, were increasingly visible. Grafton's freedom-loving citizens ignored hunting laws and regulations on food disposal. They built a tent city, in an effort to get off the grid. And with a large and growing local bear population, conflict became inevitable.A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear is both a screwball comedy and the story of a radically American commitment to freedom. Full of colorful characters, puns and jokes, and one large social experiment, it is a quintessentially American story, a bearing of our national soul.

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Book SynopsisDrawing on classical and emerging research perspectives, this comprehensive book provides an up-to-date review of local government in Europe. Featuring an impressive range of contributors from both eastern and western Europe, the book addresses three main topics: territorial reforms, democratic empowerment of citizens and the role of local leadership, as well as new trends in local finances. Acknowledging their inherent diversity, the book examines the ways that local governments have responded to shared challenges, such as climate change, increasing populism and democratic deficit in order to identify both the variety and communalities between the country-specific features. In doing so, it provides a rich picture of the latest trends in local government, as well as pointing the way for future developments.Table of ContentsPART I The Size of Municipal Reforms When Size Matters 1 Advancing the Research Agenda on Local Territorial Reforms: Taking Time and Space Seriously ~ António F. Tavares 2 Too Big To Be Local: Local and National Elite Complicity in the Narrative of English Council Mergers ~ Colin Copus, Alistair Jones and Rachel Wall 3 Consequences of Forced Municipal Mergers: Evidence from Norway ~ Harald Baldersheim and Lawrance E. Rose 4 Local Government Reforms in Denmark and Norway: Reform Tools and Outcomes ~ Kurt Houlberg and Jan Erling Klausen 5 One Size Does Not Fit All: Growing Cities and Shrinking Towns in the Spanish Local Map ~ Carmen Navarro and Esther Pano 6 Institutional Changes and Shifting Roles: Local Government Reform in Hungary, 2010–14 ~ Gábor Dobos 7 Territorial Reforms in Bulgaria: The Cases of Municipal Divorces ~ Desislava Kalcheva 8 Participation of Interest Groups at Local Level: Any Space for Democracy in Inter- Municipal Cooperation? ~ Jurga Bučaitė-Vilkė PART II Local Democracy and Leadership 9 Municipal Size and the Nationalization of Local Party Systems: The Nationalized, Localized and Regionalized Local Party Systems of Denmark, Poland and Belgium ~ Adam Gendźwiłł, Ulrik Kjaer and Kristof Steyvers 10 Co-creating the Tolerant City: The Role of Inspirational Civic Leadership ~ Robin Hambleton with a contribution by Wirginia Aksztejn 11 Urban Leadership: German and Polish Mayors in Comparison ~ Hubert Heinelt 12 Urban Climate Leadership in Metropolitan Areas: How Has the Political Parliamentary Model Influenced Oslo’s Climate Leadership? ~ Gro Sandkjær Hanssen PART III Keeping the Pace with a Balanced Balance Sheet 13 Democratic Functions of Local Budgets ~ Jerzy Bartkowski 14 Does Urban Sprawl Pay Off for the Suburban Municipal Budget in Poland? ~ Julita Łukomska and Jarosław Neneman 15 Should Tourists Pay Local Taxes and Why Yes? ~ Marta Derek Conclusion 16 Perspectives on European Local Government: Putting Local Democracy First! ~ Marta Lackowska, Katarzyna Szmigiel-Rawska and Filipe Teles

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Book SynopsisIn the wake of the Good Friday Agreement, the redevelopment of the former Girdwood Army Barracks in North Belfast was hailed as a ‘symbol of hope’ for Northern Ireland. It was a major investment in a former conflict zone and an internationally significant peacebuilding project. Instead of adhering to the tenets of the Agreement, sectarianism dominated the regeneration agenda. Throughout the process, politicians, community groups and paramilitaries wrangled over the site’s future, and territorial contest won out over housing need. After eleven years of negotiation and £11.7 million, the EU-funded Girdwood Community Hub opened its doors to the public in 2016, but its impact has been underwhelming. The Hub’s redevelopment is a microcosm of the peace process itself, and the ways in which post-Agreement politics have failed to deliver a ‘shared future’ for the people of Northern Ireland, twenty-five years on. This ethnography provides a lively account of Girdwood’s redevelopment and a wry critique of the fractious political context around it. Through flânerie and encounter, the author brings us across peace walls, into community meetings and behind the scenes of decision-making in Northern Ireland. Girdwood’s story also sheds light on how power, politics and territory intersect in divided cities globally.Table of ContentsIntroduction: Planning, Politics and Contested Space The First Step: Musings on History, Ethnography and Methodology Politicking and Peacebuilding in Northern Ireland: The Good Friday Agreement and its Prescriptions ‘Frictions, factions and fractions’: Identity and Territory in North Belfast ‘Unlocking the Potential’: Grassroots Advocacy and the Girdwood Draft Masterplan Ethnic Champions and the Zero-Sum Game: Political Dynamics of the Northern Ireland Assembly Carve-Up or Compromise? The Bid for the Girdwood Community Hub The Trouble with ‘Community’: Paramilitaries and the Peace Industry in Northern Ireland ‘Shenanigans and Skullduggery’: Community Engagement and Argument at Girdwood Conclusion: ‘Better’ at Girdwood Community Hub: The Legacy of the Girdwood Development Epilogue

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Book SynopsisThis book presents international experiences in urban network learning. It is vital for cities to learn as it is necessary to constantly adapt and improve public performance and address complex challenges in a constantly changing environment. It is therefore highly relevant to gain more insight into how cities can learn. Cities address problems and challenges in networks of co-operation between existing and new actors, such as state actors, market players and civil society. This book presents various learning environments and methods for urban network learning, and aims to learn from experiences across the globe. How does learning take place in these urban networks? What factors and situations help or hinder these learning practices? Can we move from intuition to a strategy to improve urban network learning?Table of Contents1. Introduction: Studying Strategies for Urban Network LearningLeon van den Dool and Linze SchaapPART I. THEORIES AND REFLECTIONS2. Learning processes in an urban governance context: a theoretical explorationLeon van den Dool and Linze Schaap3. From “Best Practice” to “Relevant Practice” in International City-to-City LearningRobin HambletonPART II. APPROACHES TO URBAN GOVERNANCE NETWORK LEARNING4. City-Region Governance Labs: Governance Learning by Strategic Policymakers from European City RegionsLinze Schaap, Niels Karsten, Carlo Colombo, Maaike Damen5. Networking and Learning in Urban Living Labs: the Case of the Housing Innovation Lab in BostonGiorgia Nesti6. Understanding Gentrification: Learning through Field Visits to Amsterdam, Yogyakarta, and Rotterdam Remco Vermeulen7. Learning Through Collaboration: the Case of City Deals in The NetherlandsMarloes Dignum, David Hamers, David Evers 8. Two Reflexive Methods for Evaluating Public Policy Practice in Urban Network Contexts: Learning History and Learning EvaluationMichael DuijnPART III. TECHNIQUES FOR URBAN GOVERNANCE NETWORK LEARNING9. Learning in Complex Urban Networks: Can Group Mentoring Help?Leon van den Dool10. City Visitations as Instruments of Urban Network Learning: the Case of the 2011 Flemish City Visitations Herwig Reynaert, Arno Korsten, Tom Verhelst11. Crowd-Sourced Planning, Crowd-Monitoring, and Organisational LearningNorbert Kersting12. Can Peer-to-Peer Learning Support Energy Transition in Cities and Regions?Elena Marie Ensenado and Jen Heemann 13. Lessons about Learning from Serious Games: the Learning Potential of Co-creation and Gameplay in Participatory Urban Planning Processes Cristina Ampatzidou14. Urban Gaming: Learning about the Energy Transition at the Local Level with Go2ZeroGeertje Bekebrede15. Urban Network Learning: ConclusionsLeon van den Dool and Linze Schaap

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