Government/Politics

The Israeli announcement that 1,600 more housing units would be built in occupied East Jerusalem is causing a diplomatic crisis.

Financial analysts and members of the real estate industry are worried that, if the U.S. government doesn't resolve the debt ceiling crisis soon, an already fragile housing market will be dealt a serious blow, and with it the entire U.S. economy.

While calling Israeli settlement construction "folly" the U.S. has nonetheless vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israeli settlement construction as "illegal."

The Globe & Mail takes an in-depth look at Prime Minister David Cameron's "Big Society" agenda, which will devolve power to local communities and see an "army" of volunteers responsible for such things as running schools and maintaining parks.

A new law requiring city agencies and departments to make "reasonable efforts" to publish their data received unanimous support from the Board of Supervisors.

Steven Malanga looks at how Newark's Cory Booker and Detroit's Dave Bing are reforming their troubled cities.

One of the nation's poorest cities is about to become the first major city in America to lose its public library owing to the states' financial crisis.

The Cities of Service coalition, a new initiative funded through Rockefeller Foundation grants, aims to facilitate local volunteer-based efforts to meet community needs.

In their attempts to deal with their budget deficits, state and local governments are slashing public transit funding, which may leave residents little choice but to return to their cars.

With its planning department reporting to a deputy manager several steps removed from the mayor's office, Toronto's planning system is "just insane", writes Christopher Hume.

Jo Comerford of the National Priorities Project reports on how one New York state mayor is addressing the interconnections between municipal budget shortfalls and federal spending on warfare.

States and cities across the U.S. are cutting public library funding at a time when people are relying on them more than ever, writes Art Brodsky.

With Adolfo Carrion Jr. appointed as a "cities czar" and federal stimulus dollars flowing to urban sustainability projects, the Obama Administration aims to concentrate development to boost "environmentally and economically viable neighborhoods."

The Bush Administration's ideology of homeownership combined with a lack of oversight contributed significantly to the collapse of the housing market and the present economic crisis, according to this New York Times investigation.

Two years ago, Canada opened the door to American subprime lenders, leading to a game of one-upmanship with Canada's federal mortgage insurer, CMHC.

Environmentalists and resources extracting industries alike are scrutinizing President-Elect Obama's election comments for indications of what his administration's public lands policies will be like.

The deplorable state of America's infrastructure may represent a one-time opportunity: not to replace what once made sense but does no longer, but to embark on a bold program to create a more environmentally sustainable nation, writes Sara Robinson.

With America facing a $1.6 trillion infrastructure deficit, Joanna Guldi of the Commonweal Institute laments for the era the "infrastructure state."

Congress is promising to pass before Independence Day a sweeping set of housing legislation that would offer refinancing packages, a trust fund for affordable rental housing and offer tax credits for purchasing unoccupied houses.