Challenges for Urban Social Justice Movements

Greg Albo

Published in 2009

Neoliberal Urbanism, the Canadian City and Toronto

Report Prepared for the Centre for Social Justice Toronto, Ontario – December 2009 Neoliberal globalization has played itself out in the politics of Canadian cities over and over again through the last two decades. The internationalization of financial markets, the geographical restructuring of manufacturing, and the consumer debt fuelling retail markets have formed the economic and physical landscapes of neoliberal urbanism. Policy initiatives for water, electricity and healthcare privatization, and cuts to social housing and welfare rates, have also been political battles over the quality of life of cities. The crisis of Canadian cities that has resulted has led to persistent calls of mayors from St. John’s to Victoria for a ‘new deal’, but have been met by mostly silence from senior levels of government.

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