Changing Toronto: Governing Urban Neoliberalism - Softcover

Boudreau, Julie-Anne; Keil, Roger; Young, Douglas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1442600934 ISBN 13: 9781442600935

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2009

Synopsis

By exploring the formative years of the New City of Toronto (between 1995 and 2005, the period just before, during, and after metropolitan amalgamation), Changing Toronto analyzes the political, social, and environmental challenges of living in, and governing, a major metropolitan city region that bills itself as a multicultural, world-class city.

About this title

About the Author:

Julie-Anne Boudreau is Associate Professor at the Center for Urbanisation, Culture, and Society of the National Institute for Scientific Research in Montreal. She holds the Canada Research Chair on the City and Issues of Insecurity. Her recent work focuses on fear in the city and fear of the city. Roger Keil is York Research Chair in Global Sub/Urban Studies in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto.
Douglas Young is Assistant Professor of Social Science and teaches Urban Studies at York University, Toronto. He has worked as an architect, planner, and developer of non-profit housing co-operatives.

Review:

At last, we have a book that does for Toronto what Mike Davis did for Los Angeles with City of Quartz. With an eye for global forces, as well as textures of everyday life bearing on urban politics in the neoliberal era, this panoramic account revolves around a sharp focus on social, spatial, and environmental justice in the city, offering a lively riposte to both the dull academicism and the theatrical boosterism of Toronto. Changing Toronto is not only a must-read for students and activists of Toronto, but also a valuable contribution to critical urban studies.

(Kanishka Goonewardena, University of Toronto)

Changing Toronto is generously large in scope, jumping ably from Jane and Finch to the agony of the disappearing middle classes, from Markham's water regime to the obsession with superstars and beauty in planning discourse. Its careful reflection of Toronto's neoliberal past and present offers readers an understanding of how the global affects the local in ways that raise important questions for current political practices. It will force readers to take a challenging, critical look at the city.

(Caroline Andrew, University of Ottawa)

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1442600934
• ISBN 13: 9781442600935
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256