Dr. John Robson investigates the claim that flooding is getting worse because of climate change, and finds that there's no more rain than there ever was, and no more flooding in rural areas. The problem is bungled water management in cities.
Results for "urban"
As Canadian cities are plagued by ever-higher home prices, governments look for ways to provide affordable housing for their citizens. They should look to their own ill-advised “urban containment” policies. Urban containment severely restricts or bans development in...
The Urban Containment Effect (Zoning Effect) On Australian House Prices
By: Wendell Cox Originally published: April 5, 2018 Source: newgeography.com In delivering the Annual Report of the Bank to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration on August 18, 2006, (now...
California’s Dense Suburbs and Urbanization
Many observers think California urban areas are more geographically expansive ("lower density" or to use the pejorative term, more "sprawling") then those elsewhere in the nation, especially the Northeast Corridor, which runs from the Washington DC metropolitan area...
Featured News
Weaponizing the Law
The indictment of former U.S. president Donald Trump for crimes invented by his political opponents is the most egregious example yet seen of the weaponizing of the law. The United States is now full of examples. However, in Canada, we also see the law being...
“Looking At” Seizing Control Over Western Canada’s Natural Resources
OTTAWA, REGINA - Last week, two things happened that could have profound impacts on natural resources development in Saskatchewan. One is a hint the federal government might want to take control of natural resources away from the provinces, and the other is the...
Rail Relocation From Urban Centres Benefits Both Cities and Railways: It would address safety and land use concerns while providing improved transit and operational efficiencies to rail companies
The rail tragedy at Lac Mégantic, Québec, has opened a debate about the safety of railway in urban areas. Some argue a safety measure would be the relocation of rail lines away from urban areas. Those against this option make economic arguments about community sustainability and the high costs of relocation.
Cox on Urban Sprawl
Creating Satellite Towns to Accommodate Growth Makes Sense.
Media Release – Urban Planners Do Not Always Give Us Greater Sustainability: A Time for a Paradigm Shift
Provincial and municipal governments are attempting to increase density and transit use in most Canadian cities. Rather than increasing affordability and mobility, that approach is doing the opposite. The report argues that cities should embrace, rather than reject, urban dispersion.
Urban Policy: A Time for a Paradigm Shift
This policy paper examines current attempts to increase urban densification in Canada’s metropolitan areas, and makes a common-sense but unorthodox argument that cities would be better off embracing urban dispersion.
Poverty and Growth: Retro-Urbanists Cling to the Myth of Suburban Decline: Suburbs have more poor people mainly because they have more people, write Joel Kotkin and Wendell Cox.
In the wake of the post-2008 housing bust, suburbia has become associated with many of the same ills long associated with cities, as our urban-based press corps and cultural elite cheerfully sneer at each new sign of decline, most recently a study released Monday by the Brookings Institution—which has become something of a Vatican for anti-suburban theology—trumpeting the news that there are now 1 million more poor people in America’s suburbs than in its cities.
Sydney to Abandon Radical Urban Containment Policy
The New South Wales government has proposed a new Metropolitan Strategy for the Sydney area which would significantly weaken the urban containment policy (also called urban consolidation, smart growth, livability, growth management, densification, etc.) that has driven if house prices to among the highest in the affluent New World (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States) relative to household incomes.
Media Release – A New Model For Inter-City Busing Could Restore Services and Lower Prices: Liberalizing the market could ensure rural service while lowering the price of inter-urban travel.
Inter-city bus service is vital to rural Canada, yet has diminished throughout the country over the last few decades. The old model of cross-subsidizing unprofitable rural routes with profitable urban routes has broken down. The study recommends full liberalization of provincial inter-city bus markets, and the introduction of a least-cost subsidy system for unprofitable, socially desirable routes.
What is a Half-Urban World?
Within the last couple of years, the population of the world has become more than one half urban for the first time in history. By 2025, the world’s urban areas are expected to account for 58% of the world population, rising further to two-thirds in 2050. This represents a huge increase from the 29% that was urban in 1950, or estimates of approximately 10% (or less) in 1800.
Media Release – Canadian Housing Affordability Continues Gradual Decline: Restrictive Urban Planning to Blame
Frontier Centre Media Release – Canadian Housing Affordability Continues Gradual Decline: Restrictive Urban Planning to Blame.