Toronto prides itself on being “the world’s most diverse city,”
and its officials seek to support this diversity through programs and
policies designed to promote social inclusion. Yet this progressive
vision of law often falls short in practice, limited by problems
inherent in the political culture itself. In Everyday Law on the
Street, Mariana Valverde brings to light the often unexpected ways
that the development and implementation of policies shape everyday
urban life. Drawing on four years spent participating in council
hearings and civic association meetings and shadowing housing
inspectors and law enforcement officials as they went about their
day-to-day work, Valverde reveals a telling transformation between law
on the books and law on the streets. She finds, for example, that some
of the democratic governing mechanisms generally applauded—public
meetings, for instance—actually create disadvantages for
marginalized groups, whose members are less likely to attend or
articulate their concerns. As a result, both officials and citizens
fail to see problems outside the point of view of their own needs and
neighborhood. Taking issue with Jane Jacobs and many others,
Valverde ultimately argues that Toronto and other diverse cities must
reevaluate their allegiance to strictly local solutions. If urban
diversity is to be truly inclusive—of tenants as well as homeowners,
and recent immigrants as well as longtime residents—cities must move
beyond micro-local planning and embrace a more expansive, citywide
approach to planning and regulation.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780226921914
Publisert
2018
Utgave
1. utgave
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Chicago Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter