| Title | : | A Citizen's Guide to City Politics: Montreal |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1551647818 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781551647814 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 300 |
| Publication | : | Published August 1, 2021 |
World cities face persistent tension between the pull of globalization and the needs of citizens. Conventional political parties present milquetoast solutions that accommodate the interests of business. Meanwhile, citizens in cafes, meeting halls, on the streets, and now in virtual forums are rising to the challenge of imagining new and radical municipal policy from the ground up. This book explores the future of Montreal’s citizen lead movements at a moment defined by the threats of pandemic, austerity, housing speculation and insecurity, and racism. It pairs contemporary analysis with an exploration of Montreal’s rich municipal history. The editors of A Citizen’s Guide to City Politics gathered more than twenty activists, urban planners, and thinkers to address the major problems facing Montrealers and propose alternatives from a citizen's perspective. Municipal movements everywhere will see their own struggles reflected in this guide and will find inspiration for debate and action.
A Citizen's Guide to City Politics: Montreal Reviews
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This is a wide-ranging compilation of essays that explore Montréal's current status (in 2020) and future prospects in terms of urban planning, housing, economy, governance, transportation, social movements and more. A book like this can only be a snapshot that captures a moment in time, and reading this in 2022, I was aware that some of the information was already out of date--the municipal elections in 2021 resolved some of the issues, like the threat of a baseball stadium on public land.
I really enjoyed Luc Gagnon and Jean-François Lefebvre's essay in favour of a regional tramway. This mode of transportation delivers much better value for the money than a subway, but it has traditionally been pushed aside. Maybe eventually Montrealers will see the light.
A few of the authors touched on the issue of governance, remarking that Montreal is unusual in its clinging to municipal parties. I would have liked to see a chapter on municipal electoral reform towards proportional representation--how that works, where it has been done already, and how to make it happen in Montréal.
