User:Kcanrule/City district

= City District =

A City district is a designated administrative division managed by a local government or city council. City districts typically divide urban, built-up areas of more than 100,000 occupants (European Union, 2020), into several municipalities. The administrative unit is commonly used in Europe, South America and Asia.

"City district" can be translated into German: Stadtbezirk, French: arrondissements, Dutch: stadsdeel, Swedish: stadsdel and Polish: dzielnica. It is also a common administrative unit in Russia (Russian: raion), Pakistan, Croatia (Croatian: gradski kotar or gradska četvrt) and Serbia (Serbian: градска четврт/gradska četvrt).

With the rapid urbanisation and growing proportion of the world's population living in cities, the need for increased administrative and political division in urban areas has grown accordingly (Van Criekingen, Bachmann, Guisset & Moritz Lennert, 2020, p.30). In a similar manner, the changing nature of human settlement across the globe has made it increasingly difficult to monitor sustainable living practices, or initiate social change in the contemporary world (James, Magee, Scerri & Steger, 2015, p.28). Thus, for governments, intergovernmental organisations, economists and non-government organisations (NGOs), city districts have become vital tools for administrative purposes, as well as for understanding the emergence of poly-centric urban conﬁgurations and sustainability expectations in urban metropolises (James, Magee, Scerri & Steger, 2015, p.25).

Local government
Main article: Local government

Local governments are public administrations at a local, lower tier of authority within a given state or region. Typically, a local government will act in accordance to the powers delegated to them by legislation, or directives of a higher level of government.

Pakistan
Main article: City Districts of Pakistan

There are over five thousand local governments in Pakistan. Local government is the third tier of administration authority, and divided into three administrative units depending on the size of the district (Government of Pakistan, 2013):

·       District Government Administrations

·       Town Municipal Administrations

·       Union Council Administrations

Local government proceeds national and provincial government by authority; though, local delegates are protected by the Constitution of Pakistan in Articles 32 and 140-A (Constitution of Pakistan, 2013). Thus, each province has its own local-government-enabling legislation and ministry responsible for implementation. City districts are led by Union Council Administrations (City Government of Lahore, 2020), wherein council elections are held every four years.

Russia
Main articles: Subdivisions of Russia and Raion

The Russian Federation consists of eighty-five federal subjects that are constituent members of the Federation (Saunders & Strukov, 2010). According to administrative-territorial structures, the degree of political autonomy of administrative units varies depending on the region. City Districts (Russian: Raion) are subdivisions two steps below national level administrative entities. However, the 1993 Constitution of Russia suggests little around federal, or joint, government responsibility in administrative-territorial divisions. This has since been interpreted that matters lie solely with the governments of federal subjects (Constitution of Russia, 1993). This implies the elected local government (city assembly) of a municipal district will adhere to authority above it (Saunders & Strukov, 2010).

However, a raion is often the primary level of administrative division in minor USSR republics. In Bulgaria, a city district will typically subdivide a city or municpality; and, have no relation to the administrative division of the country itself.

Poland
Main article: dzielnica

In Poland, a city district (Polish: dzielnica) divides a city or town. By virtue of law, inhabitants will elect their own self-governing council (Polish: rada dzielnicy, or dzielnica council) (Biuletyn Informacji Publicznej, 2003). Many towns and cities are also subdivided by "osiedles;" and, it is common-place for osiedles to exist within a city district.

In Warsaw, each city district has its own mayor (Polish: burmistrz).

The Netherlands
Main article: Urban districts of the Netherlands and Boroughs of Amsterdam

A stadsdeel (Dutch : [ˈstɑdzdeːl]; lit. borough) is an administrative unit used for municipality districts within larger municipalities in the Netherlands. The use and administrative independence of boroughs varies greatly across the country. Generally, subdividing stadsdeel will adhere to an elected municipal council (Dutch: Gemeenten) (Norsk senter for forskningsdata, 2015).

Eindhoven's stadsdelen correspond to the former municipalities that combined in the formation of the city in 1920. In terms of administration however, their relevance extends only to official documents and publications, as they have no political or administrative independence.

Amsterdam calls 7 of its 8 boroughs, deelgemeenten stadsdeel. The governing body, or elected district committee (Dutch: bestuurscommissie) of each is composed of an executive, (stadsdeelwethouders) and legislative (Stadsdeelraad; lit. a council elected by the inhabitants) wing of government. Each stadsdeel holds a population between 80,000 and 140,000; which is the equivalent populace of most major municipalities throughout the country (Government of Amsterdam, 2019). Since the 2014 municipal elections, all European nationals, and non-EU nationals who have lived in the Netherlands for excess of three years, are eligible to vote for the district committee of the Amsterdam borough in which they live (Government of Amsterdam, 2019). This happens every four years (City of Amsterdam, 2020), the number of advisory committee members depending on the population of the district. Politically, the committee is the link between the district and City Hall.

Each district committee elects three of its members to form an executive committee. These managing directors are supported by an advisory committee. They deal with important matters in the district, such as the design of streets and squares, public greenery and parks, household waste collection, and social work in the neighbourhood (City of Amsterdam, 2020).

Sweden
City districts in Sweden are found only in large urban areas. These districts are created by individual municipalities, however, they are not recognised by national Swedish law. The degree of administrative autonomy city district authorities hold varies greatly, and is typically very limited. For example, the Strängnäs Municipality uses district councils (Swedish: kommundelsråd) which serve a purely advisory function, and have no administrative power (Strängnäs Municipality, 2020).

Mayor (Municipal government)
Main articles: mayor and municipal government

A mayor is the highest-ranking public official in many municipal subdivision governments across the globe. The means by which a mayor and municipal council is elected, or otherwise mandated, varies according to the region in which it is based. Similarly, there is also variance in the authority and responsibilities of a mayor, particularly in the context of a city district.

France
Main articles: elections in France, municipal council (France) and mayor (France)

In France, a Municipal Council is elected as a political body responsible for local, executive decisions (JORF, 1996). The council is required to meet at least once a quarter, or at the request of one third of its cabinet. The mayor (French: maire), or head of the council, leads legal and financial autonomy in their respective municipal (JORF, 2011). They will also gain autonomy over the region's respective subdividing units, like city districts (French: Municipal arrondissement).

As well as presidential and legislative elections, France holds local municipal elections every six years. Mayors and councillors are elected by French citizens in this process (Government of France, 2017).

Germany
Main article: Mayor (Germany)

In Germany, mayors are the leaders of district, as well as borough councils. The allocation of a local government is regulated by state statutes.

Borough (city district) mayors in the three city-states (German: Stadtstaaten) (Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen) are elected by city-state parliaments (Nomos, 2020).

In all other states, they are elected directly by local EU citizens. From this, the mayor-led district council gains executive authority over local welfare and infrastructure decisions. By contrast, remaining big cities (those which fall under state statuses) are run by Oberbürgermeisters (lord mayors), as they are generally kreisfrei ("free of district") (Nomos, 2020).

Turkey
Main articles: Mayor (Turkey) and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey

In Turkey, mayors (Turkish:Belediye Başkanı) are elected from a municipal council, and given authority over their respective municipal (Aksel, 2013).

Institutionally, there are municipalities in all towns (Turkish: belde), serving as district centres to populations in excess of 2000 inhabitants. Further, as of 1983, metropolitan municipalities (Turkish: Büyükşehir belediyesi) were introduced to the Turkish administrative system. All metropolitan municipalities are subdivided by district municipalities (city districts) with their own municipal council (Aksel, 2013).

Urbanisation & Sustainability
Urbanisation is the modern phenomenon of increased, mass migration from rural to urban areas. That is, the increased proportion a given state's populace residing in urban metropolises, having moved from rural, agricultural regions (Butler & Crooke, 1973). Urbanisation can occur due to a number of political, social and economic reasons.

Over the past century, the world system has seen significant agricultural and industrial revolution, which has caused a novel disequilibrium between regional populations and those in urban areas. Urbanisation means metropolises are becoming extremely dense, relying more on globalised markets, industrial manufacturing and specialisation for economic growth than ever (Bachmann, Guisset, Lennert & Van Criekingen, 2020). This has put increased pressure on subdividing administrative regions and local governments to control and support sustainable practices (Korotayev & Grinin, 2006, p. 118). Since the 1950s, urbanisation has particularly impacted the Americas and Europe due to sheer mass migration; Asia and Africa following more recently on grounds of demographic expansion. In 2014, it was found, for the first time, that more than half of the world population lived in cities (United Nations, 2020). Megacities with populations in the multi-millions have also become well-established as prime cultural and economic options for migrants coming from ever-isolated urban areas. Likewise, economic globalisation via rapid industrialisation and the centralisation of major businesses in big cities has increased the attraction of megacities more than ever (Sorensen & Labbé, 2020, p.1-3). Again, this has created problems and increased expectations on mature, metropolitan and city district authorities (Korotayev & Grinin, 2006, p. 119). There is now rapid demand for intervention into resources management, infrastructure spending and metropolitan spatial configurations; ultimately, causing grown emphasis on city districts as subdividing regions for both administrative and practical reasons (Korotayev & Grinin, 2006, p. 119). City districts have become major components of poly-centric cities.

Poly-Centric Cities
The rise of the informational economy, rapid global urbanisation and population growth over the last three decades has redefined the position of cities in networks of command and control centres of the world economy (Taylor, 2003). Where, intra-metropolitan areas, like city districts, have seen significant surges as novel geographies of economic activities (Van Criekingen, Marie Bachmann, Christophe Guisset et Moritz Lennert, 2007, p.4). Put simply, there has been a distinct dispersion of economic activity concentration and significance from metropolises, to ever-independent, subdividing city districts.

Such trend calls into question the traditional pre-eminence of CBDs and historic inner-city districts as prime location sites for economic growth. More generally, a profound readjustment of former radio-concentric representations of internal structures of cities and associated centre/periphery models of urban land use is at play. Decentralization of routine office functions (e.g. back offices), place-consuming activities (e.g. transport and warehousing) or household services (e.g. retail, education) has been largely initiated during post-war decades under conditions of Fordist suburbanization. However, the current phase of restructuring seems even more salient since decentralization is now driven by leading protagonists of the contemporary urban economy, i.e. informational knowledge-intensive activities (in finance and business services, creative and cultural industries, etc.) or corporate headquarters.

However, these speculations tend to ignore the very nature of the contemporary informational economy. The rise of informational activities basically involves a reassertion – rather than a demise – of the benefits of agglomeration economies since the generation and transmission of richly-layered or strategic information mostly occur through direct interpersonal relationships and face-to-face contacts between highly-qualified professionals (Castells, 1989; Sassen, 1991). What seems new, however, is that these agglomerations economies and related mechanisms of clustering are no longer restricted to find place in inner cities or CBDs. New poles, axes or zones in different out-of-core or suburban locations can now also offer a critical mass of office premises, equipments for professional meetings and infrastructure for telecommunication and transportation that cater to the clustering of advanced service activities (Hall, 1999). These new metropolitan (sub-) centres (e.g. high-technology corridors, edge cities, suburban downtowns, etc.) come to supplement traditional inner city locations. While this trend may in some cases lead new peripheral centres to overshadow traditional inner cities in terms of volume of office-based activities (e.g. Fujii and Hartshorn, 1995 on Atlanta), it seems more likely to entail in the European context the emergence – or consolidation – of multi-nucleated, polycentric intra-metropolitan configurations. In line with earlier works that have given substance to this scenario (Berry and Kim, 1993; Hall, 1997; Dessemontet, 1999; Kloosterman and Musterd, 2001; Halbert, 2004), we hypothesize that, rather than experiencing a generalized dilution of the urban form, metropolitan areas in Europe are being reconfigured with CBDs and inner-city districts no longer acting as sole or prime location for key economic activities. As Kloosterman and Musterd (2001, 626) suggest, central locations are becoming part of “a wider spatial division of labour within the urban area” (see also Coffey, 2000). In this framework, different tasks in the complex set of processes accounting for the generation and processing of information are accomplished by different specialized protagonists (e.g. firms, institutions, etc.) taking advantage of different specific conditions of agglomeration economies in different parts of the metropolitan space. In other words, metropolitan areas seems to move into polycentric systems wherein urban functions are distributed among a series of (sub-)centres. Accordingly, central city locations do not vanish (see also Chapain and Polèse, 2000 for a North-American assessment), rather their role in the urban economy is re-positioned within a grid of networked (sub-)centres at the metropolitan scale.

Reference List
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