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A much-needed contribution to the literature on the politics of urban development in Toronto since the 1970s, Planning Politics in Toronto challenges popular preconceptions of the OMB's role in Toronto's patterns of growth and change.

This paper compares and contrasts suburban and urban residents' attitudes and behavior toward development by comparing the frequency and motivation for mobilization of residents in the suburbs of Surrey, British Columbia, and Brampton, Ontario, with residents of their respective metropolitan urban cores. It finds that suburban residents engage less in planning politics than their urban counterparts and that they are more likely to oppose development than urban residents. However, while some variation exists in the concerns suburban and urban residents raise when they express their opposition to development, overall, the concerns of residents in suburbs and urban cores are largely the same. The data suggest that what differences exist between suburban and urban residents in the politics of urban development and planning likely arise due to the varying nature and prevalence of development encroaching on existing neighborhoods, rather than from underlying cultural differences.

This paper compares and contrasts suburban and urban residents' attitudes and behavior toward development by comparing the frequency and motivation for mobilization of residents in the suburbs of Surrey, British Columbia, and Brampton, Ontario, with residents of their respective metropolitan urban cores. It finds that suburban residents engage less in planning politics than their urban counterparts and that they are more likely to oppose development than urban residents. However, while some variation exists in the concerns suburban and urban residents raise when they express their opposition to development, overall, the concerns of residents in suburbs and urban cores are largely the same. The data suggest that what differences exist between suburban and urban residents in the politics of urban development and planning likely arise due to the varying nature and prevalence of development encroaching on existing neighborhoods, rather than from underlying cultural differences.

The politics of urban development has been a major area of study in the United States for some time, and while the field is smaller in Canada, the study of urban development has always been an important aspect of the study of urban politics in this country. However, a fruitful discussion comparing Canadian and American cities has only emerged recently and is still largely in its infancy. Supposed institutional, legal, and cultural differences between the two countries continue to be cited as barriers to such research. This paper questions such assumptions. Drawing on existing empirical literature, and the author's current and past research on the politics of urban development in Canadian cities, this paper argues that what cultural distinctions exist are minor and often peculiarities of specific cities, states, and/or provinces and that differences in planning law and institutions, though substantial, are not defined by a north–south divide. Rather, planning law and planning institutions vary significantly in both countries. Many Canadian jurisdictions have more in common with American jurisdictions than with fellow Canadian ones. These institutional differences do not act as a barrier to comparison, however, but are a useful means for gaining insight into the politics of urban development in both countries.

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- List of Tables -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Local Political Economy Theory and Toronto -- 3. The OMB and the Politics of Urban Development in Toronto -- 4. OMB Appeals in Toronto from 2000 through 2006 -- 5. Experts and the Planning Community in Toronto -- 6. The Politics of Toronto's Development Industry -- 7. Neighbourhood Mobilization in Toronto -- 8. Politicians and Urban Development in Toronto -- 9. The OMB and Local Political Economy -- Appendix A: Studying Local Political Economy -- Notes -- References -- Index

World War II is enshrined in our collective memory as the good war - a victory of good over evil. However, the bombing war has always troubled this narrative as total war transformed civilians into legitimate targets and raised unsettling questions such as whether it was possible for Allies and Axis alike to be victims of aggression. In Bombing the City, an unprecedented comparative history of how ordinary Britons and Japanese experienced bombing, Aaron William Moore offers a major new contribution to these debates. Utilising hundreds of diaries, letters, and memoirs, he recovers the voices of ordinary people on both sides - from builders, doctors and factory-workers to housewives, students and policemen - and reveals the shared experiences shaped by gender, class, race, and age. He reveals how it was that the British and Japanese public continued to support bombing elsewhere even as they experienced firsthand its terrible impact at home

Through an analysis of public discourse, national policies, and large-scale infrastructure projects, this book examines how Japanese intellectuals, bureaucrats, and engineers created a "technological imaginary" during the wartime era (1931-1945) to mobilize people for war and empire.

Abstract
While access to library and archival collections in mainland China remains unclear due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic and increasing government scrutiny, past experiences in Chinese archives are still relevant for scholars going forward, in the event that the People's Republic of China reopens the doors to these collections. In surveying the digital, print publication, and manuscript collections pertaining to the Chinese history of World War ii, this article shows how access to new kinds of sources redefined the pre-pandemic state of the field. In particular, curated volumes that emphasized perspectives from the Chinese Communist Party and leftist intellectuals gradually have given way to a more representative collection of the documentary evidence, and Taiwanese collections continue to be important to the historiography. The article begins with coverage of well-known guides and published catalogues of mainland and Taiwanese collections. It then covers some military documents that Chinese scholars occasionally have referenced. It emphasizes the richness of accessible material on the social and cultural history of the war era as part of a call to colleagues and future students to expand the scope of what is traditionally thought to be "military history." There is ample opportunity for major interventions into our understanding of wartime China, which shaped the course of modern history overall, and major innovations in historiography that scholars usually make from the dusty reading rooms of the libraries and archives.