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Judith
Maxwell is the President and founder of CPRN
and is widely acclaimed as one of Canada's top thinkers.
An ideas person, she is a highly regarded commentator
on economic and social issues in Canada. Federal and
provincial ministers and senior government officials
consult her regularly for her insights on issues of
national significance.
Neil Bradford teaches
Political Science and Public Policy at Huron University
College at the University of Western Ontario, and is
a Research Fellow in Cities and Communities with CPRN.
He is the author of Commissioning Ideas: Canadian National
Policy Innovation in Comparative Perspective (Oxford
1998), and chapters and articles in the fields of public
policy, and urban and regional development.
at CPRN
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Judith Maxwell and Neil Bradford from Canadian
Policy Research Networks (CPRN) joined us October 21, 2004
as we kicked off our Urban Canada three-part tele-learning
series with Cities: Needs, Challenges, Opportunities.
More than 80% of Canadians live in urban
areas making Canada the second most industrialized nation
in the world.
In recent years the mayors of our five largest
cities launched the C5 initiative to promote their unique
needs. Statistics show that immigrants overwhelmingly choose
to settle in large metropolitan cities. Mid-sized cities and
municipalities are struggling to manage growth while suffering
the effects of downloading. And cities have become a hot political
topic with our current prime minister promising a "new
deal" for cities.
CPRN has tapped into this growing recognition
of the national and local importance of urban spaces as sites
of innovation, economic development, and social and political
interaction. And yet Canadian cities, as constitutional wards
of their provinces, often have little political space - or
resources - to address current challenges to urban success.
Judith and Neil shared their findings and
research on Urban Canada.
This seminar covered:
- The issues facing Canadian cities: Canada’s cities
are simultaneously places of the most dynamic innovation
and most severe exclusion
- The power of place - Globalization’s 5 key flows
converge in cities: people, investment, ideas, policy,
security
- Repositioning Canada for urban excellence. Remember:
- One size does not fit all – different sized
cities have different dynamics and capacities. A flexible,
tailored approach is required.
- Collaboration is key both at the community level
and the intergovernmental level.
- There are things happening now that we can tap
into. We can tap into local knowledge to tailor the
New Deal and diffuse the work on the urban agenda.
- Other jurisdictions are moving ahead and setting
the pace. (E.g. UK, US)
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Cities
and Communities that Work - This paper from Neil Bradford reviews
the literature on cities and communities, examines a number
of Canadian and international case studies here, and draws
conclusions on policies and practices to help make our cities
work.
Public
Policy for Cities: Role of Federal Government
- This presentation by Judith Maxwell reviews the poor fit
between traditional approaches to cities and the current requirement
for what she calls "place-specific" policies.
Sustainable
Cities - In this article for Plan Canada Judith
Maxwell argues that success in the new economy requires building
what she calls "sustainable cities".
Urban
Nexus - Neil Bradford produces Urban Nexus,
a monthly e-newsletter from CPRN. Neil uses an urban lens
to present traditional policy fields in a new light, and to
highlight emerging issues for cities and communities. Each
issue of Urban Nexus, includes reviews and summaries of recent
studies and reports on a specific theme;news about up-coming
events and research; and direct links [where available] to
authors, publications and related links. Access issues of
Urban Nexus at: http://www.cprn.org/en/nexus-list.cfm.
Why
Cities Matter: Policy Research Perspectives for Canada
- This report takes stock of current knowledge about the problems
and prospects of our cities. Its primary goal is the clarification
of major issues, differing perspectives, and central debates
in a rapidly evolving and complex field of policy inquiry
and action. It seeks to provide a baseline for further public
discussion by situating the choices facing Canadian cities
today in their historical context, and in relation to contemporary
intellectual debates about how cities work, and how they might
work better.
Neighbourhood
Renewal Unit: New Deal fo Communities -
From their website,
"New Deal for Communities (NDC) is a key programme in
the Government's strategy to tackle multiple deprivation in
the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country, giving some
of our poorest communities the resources to tackle their problems
in an intensive and co-ordinated way. The aim is to bridge
the gap between these neighbourhoods and the rest of England."
Roundtable
on Community Change - (Formerly the Roundtable on Comprehensive Community
Initiatives) From their website,
"Comprehensive Community Initiatives (CCIs) are neighborhood-based
efforts that seek improved outcomes for individuals and families
as well as improvements in neighborhood conditions by working
comprehensively across social, economic and physical sectors.
Additionally, CCIs operate on the principle that community
building -- that is, strengthening institutional capacity
at the neighborhood level, enhancing social capital and personal
networks, and developing leadership -- is a necessary aspect
of the process of transforming distressed neighborhoods."
on Comprehensive
Community Initiatives
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