Path Dependence in Urban Identities?
Last week, we were introduced to the conceptual treatment of cities and the idea of the urban character of human civilization. I learned, much like everyone else, that the concept of the city is a highly amorphous one and varies from one’s perspective. As I perused Benjamin Barber’s book, If Mayors Ruled the World, the same answers came up in the sense that pinpointing a remotely precise definition of a city is a mostly useless exercise. Yet I was stimulated to consider the more nuanced identities of cities and what makes them unique.
From a technocratic perspective that may seek to manage issues and advance solutions, it may be the specific problems of the city that is its chief source of identity. In Brampton, my city of residence, the city is largely viewed as a bedroom community. Most of the roads and rails for Brampton residents lead to Toronto or Mississauga, a fact that city policy-makers are all too well aware of — 60% of residents do not even work inside Brampton according to the city’s Vision 2040 plan. It says that it would ideally be the other way around if not more, but the city is also cognizant that Brampton cannot shed its identity as a bedroom community all that easily. Where all other transit agencies withdrew bus service from the interior of York University’s campus, Brampton Transit did not.
I am led to believe that this decision was a reflection of this balanced approach that is attuned to the reality of work and education in Brampton (where most of the opportunities are outside of the city). Although stakeholder opposition may have prevented that possibility from coming to pass, this nonetheless further entrenches the existing policy and results in a reinforcement of the city’s identity in this respect. It suggests that the idea of path dependence very much applies to cities. This is a rather unsettling thought since if the persistently troubled state of affairs of Toronto’s transit policy is any indication, then there are serious challenges ahead. And it will not be only Brampton residents whom will certainly find themselves having a stake on this matter.
