Are Regional Governments urban?

During our seminar this week, we took a trip to Newmarket to fully immerse ourselves in regional policy. We were welcomed with open arms by York Region, and were free to ask questions, listen, and learn from practiced policy makers at the regional level.

Prior to exploring the region, Professor Gabriel Eidelman walked us through the history of regional government and how it came to be. It turns out, this model of governance was unique to Canada and addressed the needs of the urban and rural populations at the time.

But today, whether or not this system works and should still be in use is up for debate. A central question of the seminar was “how do you govern a region made up of many cities?” The assumption by many is that regions like Peel and York are inherently different from larger cities like Toronto. Regions are perceived to be suburbs, less urban, and have issues that differ from Toronto.

But what Gabe quickly debunked for us, is that that simply isn’t true. Regions are continuing to urbanize. Much like Toronto is getting denser and more urban, so are regions. Although the issues may be smaller in scale, and unique to pockets of the cities that make up regions, they are still very much urban issues and resemble much of what Toronto is dealing with as well.

Issues with homelessness, affordable housing, income inequality, and issues with access to transit impact every region and every city in the GTA. Considering regions to be “rural” and not fully appreciating the fact that they are becoming more and more urban devalues the issues they are experiencing and can cause oversight in policy making as regions continue to become more urban.