Looking Back and Forwards
Though I briefly learned that almost all public policy is urban policy, along with the rest of my cohort in the first year of the MPP program, the last six weeks brought that statement to life. Before this course began, I could tell you a little something about urban policy, but with an equally small degree of confidence. Now, I may not have all the answers, but I feel far more confident that I know what urban policy looks like.
At the start of the class, urban policy to me meant cities. But, after dissecting what cities were, I wasn’t even sure I knew what a city was. Whether through defining a city in terms of boundaries, population characteristics, sociological patterns, or economic measures, what a city was became more fluid with every passing conversation. But to allow for public policy to reflect the relationships, challenges, and problems in the world today, we need to be thinking more in the scope of cities and what is urban.
When thinking of urban policy and governance, we explored the fact that what is urban policy extends beyond cities and involves multiple levels of government to address the problems and needs in urban areas. In terms of municipalities, this takes the form of service delivery at the local level driven funded by property taxes, user fees, and transfers from other levels of government. For regions, it looks like addressing issues that transcend municipal boundaries. And, for the federal and provincial orders of government, their involvement in urban policy is shaped by their interests and their perceptions of cities. Even outside of government, civil society organizations like businesses, non-profits, or even neighbourhood working groups can work with and without government to address the needs of urban communities.
Having thought about what urban policy is a bit more, what I once thought of as static has taken on a far more dynamic shape. There are different actors, layers, and narratives embedded in the story that is urban policy that make it a broader production than I could have imagined.
Knowing a little more about seeing through the eyes of a city or in an urban centered way after completing this course gives me hope. Addressing urban issues can include addressing inequalities, uplifting the voices of community members that have historically been discriminated against, and overall making sure that where most Canadians live is as inclusive as possible.
Overall, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at a bike lane, sidewalks, transit, services in my community, or even the sewage system again without thinking about the overlapping and exciting story that is urban policy.
