Redrawing Local Government Boundaries

Local government boundaries today are under extreme pressure for reform. The global trend towards urbanization has brought with it economic, environmental, social, and regional demands that have severe implications for local governments and their territories. As a result, changing the areal jurisdiction of this most basic level of government has become an ongoing and pressing challenge confronting nations around the globe. The first international comparative study of local boundary reform, this collection presents a systematic examination of the legal and regulatory procedures involved in such municipal restructuring. Case studies from eight nations located in four continents - the United States, Canada, Spain, Germany, Israel, Korea, China, and South Africa - investigate how and why local governments have been enlarged and reduced in number within each country. In each case, four key areas are examined: the geography of the local government boundary problem; the procedures associated with boundary reform; the roles of the various institutions and actors of boundary reform; and the implications of boundary reform for urban and regional governance. As a result, Redrawing Local Gover