3 7 M Q U P S P R I N G 2 0 1 9 Rising income inequality and concentrated poverty threaten the social sustainability of North Ameri- can cities. Suburban growth endangers sensitive ecosystems, water supplies, and food security. Existing urban infrastructure is crumbling while governments struggle to pay for new and expanded services. Can our inherited urban governance institutions and policies effectively respond to these problems? In Shaping the Metropolis Zack Taylor com- pares the historical development of American and Canadian urban governance, both at the national level and through specific metropolitan case stud- ies. Examining Minneapolis–St Paul and Portland, Oregon, in the United States, and Toronto and Van- couver in Canada, Taylor shows how differences in the structure of governing institutions in American states and Canadian provinces cumulatively pro- duced different forms of urban governance. Argu- ing that since the nineteenth century American state governments have responded less effectively to rapid urban growth than Canadian provinces, he shows that the concentration of authority in Canadian provincial governments enabled the rapid adoption of coherent urban policies after the Second World War, while dispersed authority in American state governments fostered indecision and catered to parochial interests. Most contemporary policy problems and their solutions are to be found in cities. Shaping the Metropolis shows that urban governance encom- passes far more than local government, and that states and provinces have always played a central role in responding to urban policy challenges and will continue to do so in the future. Zack Taylor is professor of political science and director of the Centre for Urban Policy and Local Governance at the University of Western Ontario. P O L I T I C A L S T U D I E S • U R B A N S T U D I E S Shaping the Metropolis Institutions and Urbanization in the United States and Canada zack taylor How American and Canadian cities came to be governed differently – and what it means for the future. S P E C I F I C AT I O N S ($Ht..7’d008L3 crdCt03 t8 D2No8 H9m028o8$0 May 2019 -5,7a755pl7l5al7l 4phi-l£ bAU1 4phi-l£ Dc1 ksni-- 6o602 -5,7a755pl7l5ah7, 4Ssaiaac bAU1 4Ssaiaac Dc1 k-niaa $.9ru n B - hha66 s5 Cto:2ox31 h roN.03 0g99T omot.oN.0