Inside Public-Sector Innovation: How Local Governments Put Ideas into Action (McGill-Queen's Studies in Urban Governance, 22) (Volume 22) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 022802725X ISBN 13: 9780228027256

Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2026

Synopsis

Faced with increasing demands from residents, and amidst growing legal and resource constraints, municipalities are experimenting to find new ways of making things work. Inside Public-Sector Innovation profiles the expertise and experience of local administrators in Canada who have successfully moved innovation from conception to reality.

A practitioner-oriented guide, this volume features multiple innovations from rural, urban, and suburban governments of various sizes. Exploring organizational, process, and service innovations, public administrators directly involved in their implementation highlight lessons for other practitioners considering similar strategies. Chapters cover challenges across policy domains including diversity and inclusion, public health, environmental sustainability, and service delivery inefficiencies. All together, these case studies enhance our understanding of what local public-sector innovation entails and how enterprising public servants can put it to immediate use.

Recognizing local governments in Canada as drivers of experimentation, Inside Public-Sector Innovation advances research through its rich descriptions and analysis of municipal strategies, drawing attention to the unique complications and opportunities associated with innovation at scale.

About this title

About the Authors

Zachary Spicer is associate professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University.

Joseph Lyons is assistant professor of political science and director of the Local Government Program at the University of Western Ontario.

Tyler Romualdi is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario.

From the Back Cover

Series editors: Kristin Good and Martin Horak

In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in local politics and the governance of cities - both in Canada and around the world. Globally, the city has become a consequential site where instances of social conflict and of cooperation play out. Urban centres are increasingly understood as vital engines of innovation and prosperity and a growing body of interdisciplinary research on urban issues suggests that high-performing cities have become crucial to the success of nations, even in the global era. Yet at the same time, local and regional governments continue to struggle for political recognition and for the policy resources needed to manage cities, to effectively govern, and to achieve sustainable growth.

The purpose of the McGill-Queen's Studies in Urban Governance series is to highlight the growing importance of municipal issues, local governance, and the need for policy reform in urban spaces. The series aims to answer the question "why do cities matter?" while exploring relationships between levels of government and examining the changing dynamics of metropolitan and community development. By taking a four-pronged approach to the study of urban governance, the series encourages debate and discussion of: (1) actors, institutions, and how cities are governed; (2) policy issues and policy reform; (3) the city as case study; and (4) urban politics and policy through a comparative framework.

With a strong focus on governance, policy, and the role of the city, this series welcomes manuscripts from a broad range of disciplines and viewpoints.

Edition details

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 022802725X
• ISBN 13: 9780228027256
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 348
• Editor: Spicer Zachary, Lyons Joseph, Romualdi Tyler