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City Mayors reports news from towns and cities around the world. Worldwide | Elections | North America | Latin America | Europe | Asia | Africa |
City Mayors profiles city leaders from around the world and questions them about their achievements, policies and aims. More
City Mayors provides a rolling assessment of mayors performance More
Mayors from The Americas, Europe. Asia, Australia and Africa are competing for the annual World Mayor Award. More
City Mayors ranks the world’s largest as well as richest cities and urban areas. It also ranks the cities in individual countries, and provides a list of the capital cities of some 200 sovereign countries. More
City Mayors reports political events, analyses the issues and depicts the main players. More
City Mayors describes and explains the structures and workings of local government in Europe, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Africa. More
City Mayors deals with economic and investment issues affecting towns and cities. More
City Mayors reports on how business developments impact on cities and examines cooperation between cities and the private sector. More
City Mayors describes and explains financial issues affecting local government. More
City Mayors lists and features urban events, conferences and conventions aimed at urban decision makers and those with an interst in cities worldwide. More
City Mayors reports urban environmental developments and examines the challenges faced by cities worldwide. More
City Mayors reports on and discusses urban development issues in developed and developing countries. More
City Mayors reports on developments in urban society and behaviour and reviews relevant research. More
City Mayors deals with urban transport issues in developed and developing countries and features the world’s greatest metro systems. More
City Mayors examines education issues and policies affecting children and adults in urban areas. More
City Mayors investigates health issues affecting urban areas with an emphasis on health in cities in developing countries. More
City Mayors examines the contributions history and culture make to urban society and environment. More
City Mayors examines the importance of urban tourism to city economies. More
City Mayors describes the history, architecture and politics of the greatest city halls in the world. More
City Mayors invites readers to write short stories about people in cities around the world. More
City Mayors questions those who govern the world’s cities and talks to men and women who contribute to urban society and environment. More
City Mayors profiles national and international organisations representing cities as well as those dealing with urban issues. More
City Mayors reports on major national and international sporting events and their impact on cities. More
City Mayors lists cities and city organisations, profiles individual mayors and provides information on hundreds of urban events. More
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Assessing city mayors
Mayor Monitor: City Mayors introduces Mayor Monitor (MM), which allows residents and non-residents to rate the performance of mayors and highlight their ‘best’ and ‘worst’ decisions. Mayor Monitor uses the widely understood one-to-ten rating system, where '1' signifies an extremely poor performance and '10' ‘an outstanding one. In addition to rating mayors’ performances, citizens are invited to highlight their best and worst decisions while in office. | London Mayor | New York City Mayor | Amsterdam Mayor | |
Praise. Criticise. Write.
Dialogue: "The Black National Anthem? I have nothing against this song, it is beautiful and if people can find hope and love from the words, fantastic. However, this is not our National Anthem..." "I read with a great deal of interest the article about looming North American water shortages..." "I really cannot see the point of not adjusting for the number of people living in a city...." "Excellent facts and figures..." "I think it is quite obvious that the best cities to live in are also the most boring ones..." More |
Personal Rapid Transit on
verge of becoming viable
Transport: It took a long time and the personal commitment of a president of the United States for the concept of travel to the moon to be made a reality, and there were many who doubted it would ever happen. Personal rapid transit (PRT), also called Personal automated transport (PAT), has had a similarly long gestation, and the concept was perhaps oversold in the 1960s when, in the UK, drawings were published of clumsy elevated structures cutting through Central London and looking almost as intrusive as the six-lane expressways to which they were claimed to be an alternative. More
Supreme Court rules against
US cities fighting gun violence
Society (USA): A June 2008 US Supreme Court ruling on gun control appears to be a clear defeat for American cities struggling to control gun violence. The ruling struck down the city of Washington, DC’s ban on handguns and will likely lead to fewer restrictions on the ownership, sale, and possession of firearms. More
UK should make elected mayors
focus of local government reform
Government (UK): Wrenching power from central control is proving difficult. Despite a massive improvement in the quality and performance of English local government over the past decade, cross-party political goodwill for devolution, and managerial consensus that centralism cannot cope with the detailed challenges of frontline service delivery, there remains a disinclination to delegate power. Local councils and councilors remain stubbornly unfashionable among the national political classes. More
The most expensive cities in
the world, Asia and Europe
Statistics (World): Deciding on which is the world’s most expensive city is a little bit like choosing between the merits of various world heavy weight boxing champions. Until a few years ago the choice was between Tokyo and London. But now, even though they are based on similar methodology, four separate surveys offer contrasting results. London, Oslo, Moscow and Luanda have all been named as the most expensive cities in the world. More
In your opinion
Dialogue: "The Black National Anthem? I have nothing against this song, it is beautiful and if people can find hope and love from the words, fantastic. However, this is not our National Anthem..." "I read with a great deal of interest Mr. Favro's article about looming North American water shortages..." "I really cannot see the point of not adjusting for the number of people living in a city. Your table is useless this way...." "I saw your table with The world's most expensive cities in 2008, and don’t agree...." "Excellent facts and figures..." "I think it is quite obvious that the best cities to live in are also the most boring ones..."I felt so sad when I read this article..." "The article is good. It gave me some insight into the insecurity of the poor..." "African governments need to put priorities straight..." "The experience of British new towns suggests... "I feel sorry for the people of Detroit..." More
Mayor Monitor: City Mayors introduces Mayor Monitor (MM), which allows residents and non-residents to rate the performance of mayors and highlight their ‘best’ and ‘worst’ decisions. Mayor Monitor uses the widely understood one-to-ten rating system, where '1' signifies an extremely poor performance and '10' ‘an outstanding one. In addition to rating mayors’ performances, citizens are invited to highlight their best and worst decisions while in office. | London Mayor | New York City Mayor | Amsterdam Mayor |
US presidential candidates
largely ignore urban issues
Politics (USA): US cities are struggling with unemployment, housing, underperforming schools, aging infrastructure, and poverty, while devoting more resources than ever to energy costs and homeland security. Mayors of the nation’s cities say that such concerns have been largely ignored in the presidential campaigns. The US Conference of Mayors has urged the presidential candidates to adopt their 10-point plan Strong Cities for a Strong America ’08. It asks candidates to commit to strengthening the economies of metropolitan areas. More
Supreme Court rules against
US cities fighting gun violence
Society (USA): A June 2008 US Supreme Court ruling on gun control appears to be a clear defeat for American cities struggling to control gun violence. The ruling struck down the city of Washington, DC’s ban on handguns and will likely lead to fewer restrictions on the ownership, sale, and possession of firearms. More
For humanity’s sake, developing world
must prepare for soaring urbanisation
Society (World): In 2008, the world reaches an invisible but momentous milestone: For the first time in history, more than half its human population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost five billion. Many of the new urbanites will be poor. Their future, the future of cities in developing countries, the future of humanity itself, all depend very much on decisions made now in preparation for this growth. More
With good government, urbanisation
will produce higher living standards
Society (World): Almost every part of the inhabited world has been urbanising. Today, half the world’s population lives in urban areas and most of the world’s growth in population is likely to be in urban areas. In addition, there is a profound long-term shift in the distribution of the world’s urban population. Neither Europe nor North America have most of the world’s urban population or most of its largest cities. Europe now has none of the world’s 100 fastest-growing cities — but most of its declining ones. More
Urban population is growing
by one million people a week
Society (World): The world’s urban population will grow from 2.86 billion in 2000 to 4.98 billion by 2030, of which high-income countries will account for only 28 million out of the expected increase of 2.12 billion. The world’s annual urban growth rate is projected at 1.8 per cent in contrast to the rural growth rate of 0.1 per cent and about 60 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities. More
London remains number one
but the future belongs to Asia
Economics: London remains the world's best financial and commercial city, the future, however, appears to belong to Asia and Eastern Europe, whose cities represent the fastest rising world regions in the latest commercial and financial research by MasterCard. Shanghai had the largest jump in overall rank - moving eight places from 2007 to 2008 - bringing it into the top 25 of this year's index and demonstrating the growing importance of Asian cities to a progressively urbanized global economy. More
Los Angeles is paying the price
for mayor’s focus on real estate
Economics (USA): Ever since his election in 2005, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has been portrayed as a politician with a future that possibly included the governorship. As soon as he entered office, he launched an impressive succession of ‘bold’ initiatives — among them, to make the Los Angeles Police Department a 10,000-cop force, to ‘green’ the port of Los Angeles, to improve the academic scores of some of LA Unified's worst-performing schools. Until the real estate bubble burst, he oversaw a building boom downtown and elsewhere, casting himself as a visionary re-creating LA as a model of ‘elegant density’. More
London is the most expensive city in the world
while Zurich is home to highest wage earners
Economics: London, Oslo, Dublin, Copenhagen and New York are the world’s five most expensive cities. A study by Swiss bank UBS shows that life is particularly expensive in these cities if the cost of housing is included. The basket of goods and services costs the least in Kuala Lumpur, Buenos Aires and Lima. European cities dominate the earnings tables, with the highest net incomes are enjoyed in Zurich, Dublin, Oslo, Geneva and Luxembourg. New York is the city with the highest earners outside Europe. Workers in Manila, Delhi and Jakarta have the lowest income. More
Municipal bonds have been issued
by US local government since 1812
Finance (USA): Infrastructure in the US is generally financed through subnational 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. This pioneering debt instrument was a general obligation bond, which meant that it was backed by the taxing power and tax revenues of the issuer. More
US and Canadian mayors work
together to protect Great Lakes
Environment (USA): There are five Great Lakes in northeastern US and southeastern Canada: Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario. Together with the St. Lawrence River, which extends from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean, they contain 95 per cent of North America’s fresh water. However, the entire Great Lakes-St. Lawrence water system is under considerable stress, and mayors in the US and Canada are joining forces to try to ensure that this remarkable resource retains its value in the future. More
Pittsburgh and Los Angeles
the most polluted US cities
Environment (USA): Pittsburgh has replaced Los Angeles as the most polluted city in the US. The Pennsylvanian city with a population of some 335,000 heads the list of cities most polluted by particle pollution, a deadly cocktail of ash, soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals and aerosols. Pittsburgh also ranks second on the list of cities with the most year-round particle pollution while Los Angeles again claims the first spot this year. More
The world’s best cities
are still in Switzerland
Environment (World): Zurich and Geneva are the best cities in the world as far as quality of live is concerned, says a new survey. Vancouver (Canada) is placed third, followed by Vienna (Austria), Auckland (New Zealand), Düsseldorf (Germany) and Frankfurt (Germany). Paris, London and Madrid are in the lower half of the top-50 table. Overall, Baghdad is not surprisingly the lowest ranking city in the survey. More
American mayors welcome military
schools into poorer neighborhoods
Education (USA): A little-known occurrence in public education in American cities is the rise of military schools. These schools generally operate as a partnership between the local school district and the US Department of Defense. They target poor, minority students between the ages of 10 and 18, especially African-Americans, and offer academic instruction and athletic activities within a framework of military discipline. More
Denver’s pre-kindergarten programme
set up to benefit the whole community
Education (USA): Mayor John Hickenlooper of Denver launched in 2007 a pre-k (pre-kindergarten) stipend programme aimed not only at improving Denver's education system but also at benefiting the city as a whole. In 2003, Hickenlooper campaigned with the rallying cry: "Because all kids deserve an equal start in life." Once elected, he delivered on the promise by applying his leadership talents and political capital to improving childhood education. More
Mayors from 50 cities competed
for the 2008 World Mayor Award
World Mayor 2008: Public voting for World Mayor 2008 has now ended. Between January of this year and the end of June more than 200,000 people from around the world cast their votes for and commented on mayors who they thought worthy of the 2008 Award. While all of this year’s 50 long-listed mayors have made significant contributions to the well-being of their communities, eleven of them stand out in terms of number of votes and persuasiveness of supporting statements received. More
UK should make elected mayors
focus of local government reform
Government (UK): Wrenching power from central control is proving difficult. Despite a massive improvement in the quality and performance of English local government over the past decade, cross-party political goodwill for devolution, and managerial consensus that centralism cannot cope with the detailed challenges of frontline service delivery, there remains a disinclination to delegate power. Local councils and councilors remain stubbornly unfashionable among the national political classes. More
Local as well as state government must
address the issues facing large US cities
Government (USA): The state of Massachusetts is rapidly losing its labor force through migration. The problem, which peaked last year, is a lack of affordable homes – with Boston being the primary engine in this human ‘hemorrhage’. Similar population shifts, with Massachusetts representing the most extreme example, are driven by a continuing need for suitable housing. More
Jerry Abramson
Mayor of Louisville
Mayors (USA): Jerry Abramson is the first Jewish mayor of the city best known for the Kentucky Derby and has dominated its public life since his first election in 1985. Mayor of a city with a strong history in the slave trade and known for its prominence in the national racial unrest of 1968, Abramson appointed the city's first black police chief. More
Boris Johnson will want to show
new gravitas as London Mayor
Mayors (Europe): Boris. Bozza. BoJo, even. These are all names by which Boris Johnson, London's new mayor is known in his more familiar public guise of an amiable toffish buffoon who happens to hold elected office. While Johnson already enjoyed enviable levels of public recognition in the UK, elsewhere his rise has proven puzzling. Pledging to make Greater London greater, the pro-hunting, right-leaning politician replaced the city’s first-ever mayor, Ken Livingstone, in May 2008. More
Buenos Aires City Hall - dating
back to Spanish colonial times
City Halls (South America): Buenos Aires’ historic city hall, dating back to Spanish colonial times, is known as ‘El Cabildo’ – Spanish for ‘the city council’. In 1608 the then Mayor Manuel de Frías proposed the building of the Cabildo in Plaza de Mayo since the city government lacked such a building. The construction of City Hall was financed with tax money made by the port of Buenos Aires and was finished in 1610 but was soon found to be too small and had to be expanded. More
Europe’s city centers and suburbs
will change drastically in the future
Development (Europe): The renaissance of the city is a hot topic in Europe. But what does the term renaissance mean? Generally it designates the renaissance of the inner city, the complex, mixed used inner city. The term renaissance is often applied to the city center only. Is such a perception appropriate? Does it mean that suburbanization is in decline? I assume that European cities have turned into urban regions, which will change drastically in the future. More
India will need new cities and
they will require new powers
Development (India): India is on a high growth path and rapidly urbanising. If it mismanages the latter, it will have difficulty in ensuring the former. But there is currently little public awareness of the scale of the challenges ahead. Consequently grossly inadequate systems remain in place to handle the task. More
Dubai and Shanghai examples
of wasteful urban development
Development (World): The danger of treating climate change only as a man-made phenomenon that impacts nature’s systems is that it posits the problem in some distant remoteness and absolves all of us of immediate responsibility. The facts tell us that three-quarters of the carbon dioxide in the world, which is the biggest greenhouse gas, is emitted by cities. Dubai and Shanghai are models that ought to be avoided, as they are examples of environmentally wasteful urban development. More
London’s canal network offers opportunity
for viable and sustainable freight transport
Transport (UK): Back in August 1981 three barges loaded with lime juice and pith in 45 gallon barrels made their way up the Thames. At the helm on that day was a colleague of mine, Gerry Heward. He was about to have a date with history. At Brentford in west London the tiny fleet passed through the tidal lock and onto the 200 year old Grand Union Canal. From here they travelled 50 kilometres north to Hemel Hempstead. At Rose’s factory, the barges unloaded their cargo so it could be processed into lime juice cordial and marmalade. More
US cities realise that
cycling makes sense
Transport (USA): With more motor vehicles, roads, and parking lots than any nation on earth, the United States is renowned as the land of the automobile. Many cities have more registered automobiles than residents. The monthly car payment for American families often exceeds its mortgage payment. But in spite of America’s love affair with the car, many US mayors are now striving to make their cities more bicycle-friendly. More
The largest cities in the world by
land area, population and density
Statistics (World): With the merger of core cities, suburbs and satellite towns into large metropolitan areas, the very largest cities in the world have in fact become megacities, i.e. cities with more than 10 million people. The area comprising Tokyo and Yokohama is, with a population of between 33 and 35 million, the world’s largest megacity. Other cities among the world’s top five megacities are Mexico City, New York Metro, Sao Paulo and Mumbai. More
Tokyo is number one among
the richest cities in the world
Statistics (World): Greater Tokyo stands unrivalled in the world. For many years to come, the Japanese capital together with its surrounding urban areas will remain the richest and largest city in the world. Research published by PricewaterhouseCopper (PWC) in March 2007 places the Japanese capital at the top of the world’s richest cities between 2005 and 2020. In its own research on the world’s largest cities between 2006 and 2020, City Mayors also ranks Tokyo number one in the world. More
Urban events, conferences
seminars and conventions
Events (International): City Mayors’ directory of urban events, conferences, seminars and conventions is aimed at city leaders, urban decision makers and those with an interest in cities worldwide. The directory provides specialists with comprehensive lists of events tailored to their areas of interest. More
Metro Mensch in Baghdad
Dear Mom: Do you remember Carl? His dad fixed our roof some years ago. He always messed about with cars, stole a couple too. But was a real nice guy, even in high school. His folks thought the army would sort him out. Did too. He can repair anything, never had a scratch on any of the trucks he drives. Well, until last week that is. But he was lucky. Only lost a leg when a grenade hit his jeep. The guy next to him took the full blast. The medics put him straight into a bag. More
City Mayors supports mayors who have the vision, the passion and the skills to make their cities amazing places to live, to work and to visit.
Assessing the mayors of London, New York City and Amsterdam
Six people die during Tshwane mass eviction
Mexico mayor apologises for botched police action
Personal rapid transit on verge of becoming viable
England's elected mayors to be given control of police
Mayors will present urban agenda to next US president
New York mayor offers new poverty yardstick
Disputed report claims former London mayor wasted millions
Mexico City mayor refuses to resign over police raid
Three years after Katrina residents are moving back into New Orleans
New London mayor to be probed over appointments
Sierra Leone conducts peaceful local elections
London mayor is forced to accept deputy's resignation
Public voting for World Mayor 2008 has closed
Most prominent Venezuelan mayor barred from election
New London mayor deserts Mayors for Peace
Berlin pays tribute to homosexual victims
Supreme Court rules against US cities fighting gun violence
American mayors not hopeful about solving real estate crisis
Asian cities need help with rapid expansion
US mayors want to cut back on bottled water
Centre-right candidate elected mayor of Dresden
Obama outlines programme for US cities
Spanish mayor resings after being refused bail
Aide to London mayor resings over race row
Mayor Bloomberg as popular as ever but he should leave office next year
Bucharest elects former social democrat as mayor
Nicaragua bars political parties from running in local elections
Inconclusive outcomes in Californian elections
House prices continue to fall across the USA
Saxony voters in no mood to punish ruling centre-right
Main opposition parties gain in Romanian local elections
South Korean government party punished over US beef imports
Toronto mayor to lead cities' fight against climate change
IOC names bidding cities for 2016 Summer Olympics
Toronto mayor gets support in calling for ban of handguns
Mexican mayor killed in front of his family
Stuttgart wants to make cycling less of an effort
London alcohol ban starts with an underground party
Rome’s new mayor plans to honour war-time Fascist
US ethanol subsidies cause starvation, says NYC mayor
Kansas mayor proposes
public transport system
Killer of Nagasaki mayor receives death sentence
The largest cities in the world by land area, population and density
The world's largest urban areas in 2006 and 2020
Swiss and German cities dominate ranking of best cities in the world
The most expensive cities in the world, Asia and Europe
Mayor Monitor allows for rolling performance assessments of city mayors
Local government
Mayors of the world
World Mayor 2008
The world's city halls
For humanity's sake, developing world must prepare for soaring urbanisation
Green policies are good for the environment and public purses
With good government, urbanisation will produce higher living standards
A city’s ecological footprint bears no comparison to its actual area
Personal rapid transit on verge of becoming viable
Asia has become home to world's fastest growing cities
Tokyo is numbr one among the richest cities in the world
Cities are not the problem, but the solution in the battle for biodiversity
City mayors must innovate where governments dither
London remains number one but the future belongs to Asia
21st century cities: Home to new riches and great misery
Progress in the world's cities will decide the future of Planet Earth
Urban events, conferences, seminars and conventions
Global urbanisation: Threats and benefits
Historic Cities - Living Cities
Mayors from The Americas
Local government in The Americas
City Halls in The Americas
North American cities on the internet
Supreme Court rules against US cities fighting gun violence
American mayors welcome military schools into poorer neighborhoods
US and Canadian mayors work together to protect Great Lakes
Pittsburgh and Los Angeles - the most polluted US cities
American Catholic Church struggles to maintain presence in inner cities
America prefers to punish rather than to provide care
Hunger and homelessness persists in American cities
Municipal bonds have been issued by US local government since 1812
Blacks increasingly wary as Latinos become fastest-growing US minority
Racially diverse schools harder to attain after US court decision
The world’s largest wholesale market feeds 20 million people
Sao Paulo’s Alphaville gated community - an early answer to middle-class insecurity
Metro Mensch story from Sao Paulo: Maria and Luis
Mayors from Europe
City Halls in Europe
Local government in Europe
Europe’s city centers and suburbs will change drastically in the future
Continental cities provide lessons for urban Britain
London’s canal network offers opportunity for viable and sustainable freight transport
2012 London Olympics to regenerate one of the poorest areas of the capital
UK should make elected mayors focus of local government reform
EU carbon emission agreement will strengthen concept of liveable cities
European Cities of Culture 1985 to 2019
London, Paris and Frankfurt remain Europe’s favourite business cities
Mayors from Asia
Local government in Asia
City Halls in Asia
Changes in Asia’s fast growing cities are closely watched across the world
China is at the forefront of the greatest urban-industrial revolution of all time
Fukuoka - one of Japan's doors to the world for more than 1000 years
Matsuyama City
Megacities must urgently address the needs of slum dwellers
Indian will need new cities
Time bomb is ticking away for India’s cities
Dubai and Shanghai examples of wasteful urban development
Fought over for many centuries, Madurai is one of India’s most remarkable cities
Metro Mensch in Baghdad
Tokyo Metro: The world’s cleanest and most extensive subway system
Afghan cities offer few opportunities for rising numbers of rural migrants
Mayors from Australia
City Halls in Australia
Local government in Australia
John So elected World Mayor 2006
Australia's logal government association
Melbourne Mayor calls for bold ideas to manage the city's transport system
Australian local government needs more resources
Mayors from Africa
Local government in Africa
By 2030 Africa will change from rural to urban society
Success of future megacities will depend on cooperation between citizens and authorities
Harare's middle-class residents take up urban farming to counter food shortages
Amnesty International calls on African governments to stop forced evictions
Canary Islands: Refugee crisis on the Afro-European fault line
Mauritania’s urban slums offer no support to rural newcomers
African cities demand access to basic services