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Nantes mayor appointed
as French prime minister
News (France): Two hours after being sworn in, France’s president François Hollande has named the mayor of Nantes as the country’s prime minister. Besides his job as mayor, Jean-Marc Ayrault is also the leader of the socialist group in the French parliament. He was elected mayor of Saint-Herblain at the age of 27 and in 1989 became mayor of Nantes, the country’s six-largest city. He was re-elected three times. More

English mid-sized cities ask
government for more powers
News (England): An alliance of English cities has warned the UK government that much needed economic growth will be missed out on if it only decentralises powers to England’s largest cities. The Growth Cities Network has been formed to promote the case for more powers for England’s mid-sized cities and is in discussions with ministers to establish how they can contribute better to national prosperity. More

Lisa Scaffidi
Mayor of Perth
Mayor of the Month: “From my first day in office l have been - and will remain - a very accessible and public-focussed mayor,” Lisa Scaffidi, Lord Mayor of Perth, Western Australia, told City Mayors. She regards social media as the promotional tool of the 21st century and says she communicates through Facebook and Twitter with many citizens which she could not reach by more traditional means.

Lisa Scaffidi was first elected Lord Mayor of Perth, Western Australia, in October 2007. She defeated the outgoing Deputy Lord Mayor Michael Sutherland winning 56 per cent of the votes. She stood for re-election to a second four-year term in October 2011 and won with a margin of 25 per cent over her challenger. Brian Baker, City Mayors’ Senior Correspondent, discusses with the mayor her achievements in office and the issues most important to her city. More

Railroad station turned theatre plays
important part in Newburgh’s revival
Culture: The old West Shore Railroad Station stands alone on what used to be the main north-south route through the city of Newburgh, New York State. Until recently the building was in a state of near collapse – an apt reflection of the city, whose long history is one of boom and bust. Now though, the building has been revitalised, turned into a theatre and given a purpose once more; to provide a home for playwrights to workshop and showcase new plays, to present local, national, and international artists of all genres. More

US debates use of marijuana
and its effect on urban areas
Society: President Obama’s trip to Colombia in April 2012 threw a spotlight on America’s drug policy. The presidents of Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala - countries that have seen limited returns for their inordinate sacrifices of human lives and financial resources to control the supply of illegal drugs - publicly chastised the United States for failing to curb its demand for drugs. The international focus on American drug policy has resurrected a debate within the US about the legalization of drugs, especially marijuana and how it may affect urban areas. More

Scottish Nationalists remain strongest party
but Labour captures Glasgow in local polls
Elections: The Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) benefitted from the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote in Thursday’s (3 May 2012) local government elections. Between them, Labour and the SNP won 818 local council seats out of 1222 in the 32 unitary authorities. The Nationalists made 57 gains, one less than Labour. The Scottish Conservatives lost 16 seats, while their coalition partners in London, the Liberal Democrats, lost 80. More

London Mayor promises to work
harder after narrow election win
Elections: London Mayor Boris Johnson said he and his team would work theirs socks off for London after he narrowly defeated former mayor Ken Livingstone in Thursday's mayoral elections. The results were only announced late last night after the count was severely delayed when it was discovered that two batches of ballot papers had been ‘mislaid’. Boris Johnson’s victory margin of 51.5 per cent to 48.5 per cent for Ken Livingstone was much closer than opinion polls had predicted only two days before the elections. More

More than 63 million people
live in Japan's largest cities
Statistics: Japan has 12 cities with populations of more than one million people. Almost 100 million Japanese, or 78 per cent of the country’s total population of 127.4 million, live in urban areas. The total population of Japan’s largest 103 cities amounts to 63.9 million or just over half of all Japanese. More

Mexico City’s mayoral elections
attract three strong contenders
Politics: Mexico’s main parties have nominated well-known and respected candidates to succeed Mexico City’s current mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who is term-limited. The leftist Democratic Revolution Party named Miguel Angel Mancera, who served in Mayor Ebrard’s cabinet, while the centre-right National Action Party of President Felipe Calderon has fielded Isabel Miranda de Wallace, a well-known social activist. The candidate of the centre-left Institutional Revolutionary Party is Beatriz Paredes Rangel, a past governor of Tlaxcala State. More

Chinese cities set to challenge the old
order of New York, London and Paris
Economics: New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo remain today's leading global cities, but an analysis of key trends in emerging cities suggests that Beijing and Shanghai may rival them in 10 to 20 years. The authors of this year’s Global City Index (GCI) say that shifting political and economic powers favour cities in China and, to a lesser extent, India. More

Following Indonesia’s 1998 revolution
local democracy is witnessing a rebirth
Government: The fourth largest country in the world, covering most of the Malay Archipelago and bridging South East Asia and Australasia, the Republic of Indonesia has made the transition to full democracy after three decades of post-colonial dictatorship. After years of centralisation, Indonesia is now witnessing a rebirth of local democracy and is served by 33 provinces and the capital city Jakarta. More

History and many post-war reforms
shape local government in the UK
Government: There is no single pattern of local government in the United Kingdom. Instead arrangements vary in the four ‘home nations’ of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Wales and urban England, with the exception of London, single-tier unitary authorities provide all local services, whereas non-metropolitan England is served by a two-tier system split between district and county councils. More

Seoul Subway: One of the world’s
most advanced transport systems
Transport: Seoul began building a metro network in 1971, with the first section of line opening in 1974. After a dramatic expansion in the 1990s it continued to grow significantly in the first decade of the new century though not without controversy. Unusually, the component parts of the metro and urban rail network are operated by a multiplicity of agencies and companies. More

Municipal bonds have been issued
by US local government since 1812
Finance: Infrastructure in the US is generally financed through sub-national capital financing vehicles, termed municipal bonds, which encompass the issuance of bonds by state and local governments, their agencies and quasi-public bodies generically termed special districts. While the term comprises issuers other than municipalities, the first bond of this trail-blazing genre was issued in 1812 by New York City. More

The non-profit sector has become
a vital component of urban America
Society: Not too many years ago, American cities viewed the non-profit organizations working within their municipal boundaries with suspicion and even condescension. Non-profits opened soup kitchens and homeless shelters that made economic development difficult for city administrators, for what entrepreneur wants to open a new store with homeless people milling about? And city staffs often held the capabilities of their non-profit colleagues in low regard, considering them naïve rather than realistic, dreamers not doers. More

Local government and urban
business management events
Events: The platform 'Local government and urban business management events' is a public service provided by City Mayors. The events pages list and describe events, conferences and conventions aimed at local government, urban business management and all those with an interest in cities worldwide. More

The price of bread and rice in
the world’s most expensive cities
Economics: During the past 12 months, Zurich (Switzerland), Luanda (Angola), Oslo (Norway) and Tokyo (Japan) have separately been named the world’s most expensive cities by four different research organisations. But while researchers can’t agree on the costliest city, their reports offer some similarities. Tokyo, Zurich and Geneva feature in the top ten of all four studies. More

London 2012 elections:
Issues and candidates
Politics: The fourth set of elections for the Mayor of London and London Assembly since 2000 will take place on 3 May 2012. All three main candidates from the 2008 race are standing again in 2012. Since the 2008 elections, the London mayor has acquired significant new powers, particularly over policing. Voting for the mayor takes place under the preferential Supplementary Vote system. City Mayors takes a look at the race and the declared candidates. More

Latin American cities are the
most dangerous in the world
Security: Latin America's cities are the most dangerous in the world, with certain cities - especially Honduran and Mexican ones - leading the list of world cities with most murders. San Pedro Sula, a city of some 720,000 people in northern Honduras is thought to be the most dangerous city in the world with 160 murders per 100,000 inhabitants per annum. The murder rate in Ciudad Juárez, on the Mexican-US, border is estimated at 148. New Orleans, with a murder rate of 58, is the world’s most murderous city outside Latin America. More

Scottish Nationalists remain strongest party
but Labour captures Glasgow in local polls
Elections: The Scottish Labour Party and the Scottish National Party (SNP) benefitted from the collapse of the Liberal Democrat vote in Thursday’s (3 May 2012) local government elections. Between them, Labour and the SNP won 818 local council seats out of 1222 in the 32 unitary authorities. The Nationalists made 57 gains, one less than Labour. The Scottish Conservatives lost 16 seats, while their coalition partners in London, the Liberal Democrats, lost 80. More

London Mayor promises to work
harder after narrow election win
Elections: London Mayor Boris Johnson said he and his team would work theirs socks off for London after he narrowly defeated former mayor Ken Livingstone in Thursday's mayoral elections. The results were only announced late last night after the count was severely delayed when it was discovered that two batches of ballot papers had been ‘mislaid’. Boris Johnson’s victory margin of 51.5 per cent to 48.5 per cent for Ken Livingstone was much closer than opinion polls had predicted only two days before the elections. More

Mexico City’s mayoral elections
attract three strong contenders
Politics: Mexico’s main parties have nominated well-known and respected candidates to succeed Mexico City’s current mayor Marcelo Ebrard, who is term-limited. The leftist Democratic Revolution Party named Miguel Angel Mancera, who served in Mayor Ebrard’s cabinet, while the centre-right National Action Party of President Felipe Calderon has fielded Isabel Miranda de Wallace, a well-known social activist. The candidate of the centre-left Institutional Revolutionary Party is Beatriz Paredes Rangel, a past governor of Tlaxcala State. More

US debates use of marijuana
and its effect on urban areas
Society: President Obama’s trip to Colombia in April 2012 threw a spotlight on America’s drug policy. The presidents of Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala - countries that have seen limited returns for their inordinate sacrifices of human lives and financial resources to control the supply of illegal drugs - publicly chastised the United States for failing to curb its demand for drugs. The international focus on American drug policy has resurrected a debate within the US about the legalization of drugs, especially marijuana and how it may affect urban areas. More

The non-profit sector has become
a vital component of urban America
Society: Not too many years ago, American cities viewed the non-profit organizations working within their municipal boundaries with suspicion and even condescension. Non-profits opened soup kitchens and homeless shelters that made economic development difficult for city administrators, for what entrepreneur wants to open a new store with homeless people milling about? And city staffs often held the capabilities of their non-profit colleagues in low regard, considering them naïve rather than realistic, dreamers not doers. More

American cities fight back against
big government and corporations
Society: The Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States has been all but stopped by winter and the police, perhaps to be reinvigorated in the Spring with a new strategy. Regardless of the future of the movement, it gave a voice and a face to widespread public frustration. Many US cities also feel that state and federal legal and regulatory systems are biased towards businesses. More

Chinese cities set to challenge the old
order of New York, London and Paris
Economics: New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo remain today's leading global cities, but an analysis of key trends in emerging cities suggests that Beijing and Shanghai may rival them in 10 to 20 years. The authors of this year’s Global City Index (GCI) say that shifting political and economic powers favour cities in China and, to a lesser extent, India. More

US cities lose jobs and revenues as big
pharma companies close R&D facilities
Economics: In 2007, Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company, closed its research and development facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan, displacing 2100 workers. In 2009, the University of Michigan purchased the vacant site and expected to create two to three thousand jobs over ten years. At the time of the sale, Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje expressed mixed emotions. More

The price of bread and rice in
the world’s most expensive cities
Economics: During the past 12 months, Zurich (Switzerland), Luanda (Angola), Oslo (Norway) and Tokyo (Japan) have separately been named the world’s most expensive cities by four different research organisations. But while researchers can’t agree on the costliest city, their reports offer some similarities. Tokyo, Zurich and Geneva feature in the top ten of all four studies. More

Municipal bonds have been issued
by US local government since 1812
Finance: Infrastructure in the US is generally financed through sub-national capital financing vehicles, termed municipal bonds, which encompass the issuance of bonds by state and local governments, their agencies and quasi-public bodies generically termed special districts. While the term comprises issuers other than municipalities, the first bond of this trail-blazing genre was issued in 1812 by New York City. More

US mayors demand stronger
regulations on hydrofracking
Environment: In December 2011, Mayor Matt Ryan of Binghamton, New York, signed into law a two-year ban on hydrofracking in his city. Mayor Ryan had concerns about the natural gas drilling technique because of “regulation as it now stands”. Three hundred kilometers away, Mayor Michael Bloomberg voiced his opinion that hydrofracking poses “unacceptable risks” to the water supply of New York City. More

Japan urged to invite foreign expertise
when re-building tsunami communities
Development: Japan is planning to build six energy efficient so-called ‘future cities’ in the region devastated by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami one year ago. But there are concerns about the scope and sustainability of the projects and whether international entities will be shut out. More

World’s most famous slum must
be remodelled not redeveloped
Development: Dharavi is Asia’s largest and the world’s second-largest ‘slum’, made famous by the film Slumdog Millionaire. Maharashtra’s state government now has plans to re-develop large parts of it. City Mayors’ Urban Development Consultant Prakash M Apte describes the plans as perhaps well meaning but certainly misguided. He calls for a remodelling of Dharavi. Prince Charles agrees with him, arguing Dharavi offered a better model than western architecture for housing a booming urban population in the developing world. More

Conceived by an Italian saint, Brasilia
is the world’s most striking capital city
City Branding: First conceived of in a ‘prophetic’ dream by Saint John Bosco of Italy*, Brasília is the federal capital of the Latin American republic resembling its name. It was inaugurated in 1960 by President Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira and took only 41 months to construct. It is regarded as one of the most visually striking cities in the world on account of its Le Corbusier-inspired architecture by the renowned modernist Oscar Niemeyer and was planned by Lúcio Costa. It is a World Heritage Site. More

Discipline and civil rights
in American state schools
Education: Discipline may be necessary for ensuring responsible student behavior, but “the application of discipline is unfair and unequal” in American state schools. Moreover, many student disciplinary practices employed by local state school systems may result in violations of US Civil Rights Law. Those are the findings of Discipline Policies, Successful Schools, and Racial Justice, a report by Dan Losen of The Civil Rights Project of the University of California at Los Angeles. More

Black barbershops offer
health care in US cities
Health: In cities across the United States, African-American barbers are receiving accolades, not for cutting hair, but for improving health outcomes for African-American men. Their barbershops are functioning as informal health clinics and challenging American notions about how health care is delivered. More

History and many post-war reforms
shape local government in the UK
Government: There is no single pattern of local government in the United Kingdom. Instead arrangements vary in the four ‘home nations’ of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, Wales and urban England, with the exception of London, single-tier unitary authorities provide all local services, whereas non-metropolitan England is served by a two-tier system split between district and county councils. More

Following Indonesia’s 1998 revolution
local democracy is witnessing a rebirth
Government: The fourth largest country in the world, covering most of the Malay Archipelago and bridging South East Asia and Australasia, the Republic of Indonesia has made the transition to full democracy after three decades of post-colonial dictatorship. After years of centralisation, Indonesia is now witnessing a rebirth of local democracy and is served by 33 provinces and the capital city Jakarta. More

Czech municipal government
and mayors of largest cities
Government: In the Czech Republic members of municipal councils are directly elected using a proportional electoral system. Every citizen of the Czech Republic over eighteen years of age has the right to vote and to run for municipal office. The term of a municipal council is four years. Mayors are elected by and responsible to their councils. More

Mayor Monitor
Praise. Criticise. Write.
Mayor Monitor: How mayors dealt with the Occupy movment dominate the latest comments received by Mayor Monitor: Robert Doyle's attack on the Occupy Melbourne protest was one of the worst things I have ever witnessed. • Mayor Johnson's response to Occupy London has shown that when he says he cares about Londoners he means his City of London chums • NYC Mayor Bloomberg sat by and let what once was a pleasant downtown park be occupied by smelly idiot protestors • Portland Mayor Adams created and implemented a plan for Occupy Portland that deflected any violence and confrontations with law enforcment. Write

Latin American cities are the
most dangerous in the world
Security: Latin America's cities are the most dangerous in the world, with certain cities - especially Honduran and Mexican ones - leading the list of world cities with most murders. San Pedro Sula, a city of some 720,000 people in northern Honduras is thought to be the most dangerous city in the world with 160 murders per 100,000 inhabitants per annum. The murder rate in Ciudad Juárez, on the Mexican-US, border is estimated at 148. New Orleans, with a murder rate of 58, is the world’s most murderous city outside Latin America. More

Confronting organized crime and
urban violence in Latin America
Security: Public safety is increasingly determined by crime and security in urban spaces. How the public safety problem in urban spaces is dealt with in the 21st century as urbanization intensifies will determine citizens’ perceptions of the accountability and effectiveness of the state in upholding the social contract between the citizens and the state. Major cities of the world and the provision of security and order within them, will increasingly play a major role in the 21st century distribution of global power. More

British city halls present a wide range
of neo-classical and neo-gothic styles
City Halls: The majority of British city halls of the 19th and early 20th century feature neo-classical and neo-gothic architectural designs. Bolton’s Town Hall is a fine example of 19th century neo-classical architecture, while Southampton’s Civic Centre was designed in a modern, spare classical style. In contrast, Bradford City Hall is an impressive example of Victorian neo-gothic architecture. David Jennings describes their history, features and current use. | Bolton | Southampton | Bradford |

Seoul Subway: One of the world’s
most advanced transport systems
Transport: Seoul began building a metro network in 1971, with the first section of line opening in 1974. After a dramatic expansion in the 1990s it continued to grow significantly in the first decade of the new century though not without controversy. Unusually, the component parts of the metro and urban rail network are operated by a multiplicity of agencies and companies. More

Britain’s rural community rail projects
increasingly popular with passengers
Transport: Whilst mainland Europe leads on local and regional government commissioning of rail services, the UK leads on community engagement. In the last decade close to 30 community rail partnerships have been established across the less well-served areas of the country and 18 of these are now backed by designation within the Government’s 2005 community rail strategy. More

The largest cities in the
world and their mayors
Statistics: The mayors of the world’s twenty largest cities are each responsible for more people than most national prime ministers. For example, London, ranked 20th in the world, has more residents than nations like Paraguay, Denmark, New Zealand or Ireland, and if Karachi, globally the largest city, was a country it would rank above Greece, Portugal or Hungary. The combined population of the world’s eight megacities comfortably exceeds that of Germany. More

USA Census: Rust-belt
cities are still shrinking
Statistics: Results from the April 2010 census in the USA are being published during March and April 2011. The administrators are under time pressure because the census is used to revise the allocation of seats in the US House of Representatives. After publication of half the data, the key trends are: Overall, the US population is growing by one per cent p.a. The Latino population is spreading across the country. The country is becoming more urban/suburban. The rust-belt cities are still shrinking. More

Local government and urban
business management events
Events: The platform 'Local government and urban business management events' is a public service provided by City Mayors. The events pages list and describe events, conferences and conventions aimed at local government, urban business management and all those with an interest in cities worldwide. More

The unknown violinist
Metro Mensch: In Washington DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about three minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule. More