Bold Prescription for Our Cities

The world is becoming increasingly urbanized and Canada is no exception. Our major cities are vital national assets, the key to our current prosperity and comparative advantage in an intensely competitive global economy. Yet they face serious challenges that, if they are not addressed, will undermine our future prosperity and living standards. Who says so? Just about everybody who has taken a serious look at urban issues in Canada over the past decade.

Urban Nation: Why We Need to Give Power Back to the Cities to Make Canada Strong is a welcome addition to the relatively small library in the field because it incorporates and builds on the best thinking of “urban experts,” both to explain how we have reached the current impasse and what needs to change.

Alan Broadbent, chair and CEO of Avana Capital Corporation, a private investment holding company, and the chair of the board of the Maytree Foundation, has a long and deep interest in cities that...