City-Region Studies Centre
Introducing CURB Magazine - Winter/Spring 2010 Issue
The City-Region Studies Centre is a University of Alberta research unit that engages with communities to explore the nature of towns, cities, and regions. CRSC is one of the only centres to focus on regional research in North America. To do this, we undertake both engaged and theoretical activities, work with clients, sponsor events, host visiting experts and public lectures, and maintain a global set of links with planners and academics, and cities and institutes. We are the portal to urban and regional teaching and research at the University of Alberta.
Our goal is to increase understanding of the cultural, political, economic interactions and interdependencies within these social spaces. In doing so, we inform public policy and improve the well-being of citizens.
WHAT IS CITY-REGION RESEARCH?
A city-region has traditionally been understood as a metropolitan area and its surrounding suburban and rural communities; however, we have found “city-region” to be a much more complex concept. City-regions are areas that are territorially and functionally bounded by economic, political, socio-cultural, and ecological systems. A study of commuting patterns, for example, may reveal an area that is bounded by how citizens travel to work or play. These functional boundaries often differ from municipal ones.
As urban and rural areas grow, they become increasingly interconnected with their surrounding communities. As a result, housing, transportation, recreation, economic development, and environmental sustainability—to name only a few—are issues that can no longer be adequately addressed in isolated communities. We explore these and other issues through the city-region lens.
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