IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v39y2007i3p700-727.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Testing the Elastic-Cities Concept within a Nonmetropolitan Environment: Evidence from British Columbia, Canada, 1971 to 2001

Author

Listed:
  • John Meligrana

    (School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen's University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada)

Abstract

In this study I tested the elastic-city hypothesis within a nonmetropolitan environment. Elastic cities are defined as employing aggressive annexation strategies that result in more effective planning control over the city-region, higher population increases, stronger tax bases, and healthier urban-regional economies than those of nonelastic cities. Principal component analysis was used to analyze and model the elasticity of British Columbia's approximately 100 municipal governments for a thirty-year period, 1971–2001. The findings do not completely support the correlation between a municipality's elastic boundary and growth or development. In fact, the picture is more complex than suggested by Rusk's elastic-cities concept. Annexing municipalities do not exhibit stronger population growth, newer dwellings, or economic development when compared with nonannexing municipalities. Annexation may be contributing to rural-urban sprawl rather than more-compact development patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • John Meligrana, 2007. "Testing the Elastic-Cities Concept within a Nonmetropolitan Environment: Evidence from British Columbia, Canada, 1971 to 2001," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(3), pages 700-727, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:3:p:700-727
    DOI: 10.1068/a3849
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a3849
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a3849?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Austin, D. Andrew, 1999. "Politics vs Economics: Evidence from Municipal Annexation," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 501-532, May.
    2. Eleanor Breen & FrankJ. Costa & William S. Hendon, 1986. "Annexation: An Economic Analysis," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 159-171, April.
    3. McDade, Thomas W. & Adair, Linda S., 2001. "Defining the "urban" in urbanization and health: a factor analysis approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 55-70, July.
    4. David G. Bromley & Joel Smith, 1973. "The Historical Significance of Annexation as a Social Process," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(3), pages 294-309.
    5. Robert Bennett, 1997. "Administrative Systems and Economic Spaces," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 323-336.
    6. Rodolfo Gonzalez & Stephen Mehay, 1987. "Municipal annexation and local monopoly power," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 245-255, January.
    7. Stephen Mehay, 1981. "The expenditure effects of municipal annexation," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 53-62, January.
    8. Tony Jackson & John Curry, 2002. "Regional Development and Land Use Planning in Rural British Columbia: Peace in the Woods?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(4), pages 439-443.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pengju Zhang & Phuong Nguyen‐Hoang & Na Chen, 2022. "The impact of home rule on municipal boundary and fiscal expansion: Evidence from Texas," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(5), pages 1442-1466, November.
    2. Agrawal, Sandeep & Gretzinger, Cody & Lowerre, Andrew, 2022. "Trends, motivations, and land use outcomes of municipal annexation: A case of Alberta, Canada," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Chris Mothorpe & W. William Woolsey & Russell S. Sobel, 2021. "Do political motivations and strategic considerations influence municipal annexation patterns?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 188(3), pages 385-405, September.
    4. Kenneth Greene, 1984. "Sequential referenda and bureaucratic man," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 77-82, January.
    5. Niklas Hanes & Magnus Wikström & Erik Wångmar, 2012. "Municipal Preferences for State-imposed Amalgamations: An Empirical Study Based on the Swedish Municipal Reform of 1952," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(12), pages 2733-2750, September.
    6. Russell M. Smith & Whitney B. Afonso, 2016. "Fiscal Impact of Annexation Methodology on Municipal Finances in North Carolina," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(4), pages 664-681, December.
    7. Van de Poel, Ellen & O'Donnell, Owen & Van Doorslaer, Eddy, 2009. "Urbanization and the spread of diseases of affluence in China," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 200-216, July.
    8. Perpetua McDonagh & Patrick Commins & Anthony Leavy, 1998. "Governance and Institutional Innovation: The need for strategic management," ERSA conference papers ersa98p443, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Leah Platt Boustan, 2010. "Was Postwar Suburbanization "White Flight"? Evidence from the Black Migration," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 125(1), pages 417-443.
    10. Mark Montgomery & Paul Hewett, 2005. "Urban poverty and health in developing countries: Household and neighborhood Effects," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 42(3), pages 397-425, August.
    11. Katsuyoshi Nakazawa & Tomohisa Miyashita, 2014. "Municipality amalgamation in Japan: an examination using event history analysis," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(2), pages 627-633.
    12. Maria Balaguer-Coll & Diego Prior & Emili Tortosa-Ausina, 2010. "Decentralization and efficiency of local government," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 45(3), pages 571-601, December.
    13. Katharina Schley, 2018. "Health care service provision in Europe and regional diversity: a stochastic metafrontier approach," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    14. Katsuyoshi Nakazawa, 2016. "Amalgamation, free-rider behavior, and regulation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 23(5), pages 812-833, October.
    15. Takeshi Miyazaki, 2014. "Municipal consolidation and local government behavior: evidence from Japanese voting data on merger referenda," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 387-410, November.
    16. Michael J Keane & John Lennon, 2006. "Delineating Daily Activity Spaces in Rural Areas," ERSA conference papers ersa06p106, European Regional Science Association.
    17. Jeffrey Zax, 1988. "The Effects of Jurisdiction Types and Numbers on Local Public Finance," NBER Chapters, in: Fiscal Federalism: Quantitative Studies, pages 79-106, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Saarimaa, Tuukka & Tukiainen, Janne, 2012. "Politics in coalition formation of local governments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 58528, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Katsuyoshi Nakazawa & Tomohisa Miyashita, 2013. "Does the method adopted for distribution of services by amalgamating municipalities affect expenditure after amalgamation? Evidence from Japan," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201315, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    20. Dur, Robert & Staal, Klaas, 2008. "Local public good provision, municipal consolidation, and national transfers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 160-173, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:3:p:700-727. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.