City, State: Constitutionalism and the Megacity
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City, State: Constitutionalism and the Megacity
Ran Hirschl
More than half of the world’s population lives in cities; by 2050, it will be more than three quarters. Projections suggest that megacities of 50 million or even 100 million inhabitants will emerge by the end of the century, mostly in the Global South. This shift marks a major and unprecedented transformation of the organization of society, both spatially and geopolitically. Our constitutional institutions and imagination, however, have failed to keep pace with this new reality. As the world is urbanizing at an extraordinary rate, this book argues, new thinking about constitutionalism and urbanization is desperately needed. In six chapters, the book considers the reasons for the “constitutional blind spot” concerning the metropolis, probes the constitutional relationship between states and (mega)cities worldwide, examines patterns of constitutional change and stalemate in city status, and aims to carve a new place for the city in constitutional thought, constitutional law and constitutional practice.
Features
Addresses a major scholarly gap - the great constitutional silence concerning urban agglomeration and the rise of megacities.
Provides a detailed, first-of-its-kind, comparative analysis of the constitutional status of cities across time and place.
Probes the origins and consequences of the constitutional (dis)empowerment of the metropolis.
Advances novel arguments for granting the metropolis adequate constitutional standing while mitigating the urban/ rural divide.
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Ran Hirschl is Professor of Political Science & Law at the University of Toronto. As of 2016, he holds the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship in Comparative Constitutionalism, having been granted a coveted AvH International Research Award (the most highly-endowed research award in Germany) by the Humboldt Foundation.