Are There Urban Regimes in Canada? Comment on: Timothy Cobban's "the Political Economy of Urban Redevelopment: Downtown Revitalization in London, Ontario, 1993-2002"‪.‬

Much of the study of Canadian urban politics has been about almost anything other than politics proper. A great deal of attention has been given to structures of governance and a wide range of administrative issues. Much has been written about a rich variety of issue areas, from poverty and gender-related questions through land use, housing and immigration, to municipal finance. But the actual process of decision-making, involving such questions as who governs, how is power organized and wielded, who gains and who loses, has received much less attention. Tim Cobban's critical study of the urban regime in London, therefore, offers a welcome entree to a debate that is long overdue, especially since the author not only looks at decision-making in London, but also raises questions about the appropriateness of regime theory in Canadian circumstances. In this brief response, I hope to take the debate a step forward by offering an alternate view, first of regime theory, and then of the evidence Cobban adduces.