Introduction

City is normally defined as a constellation of people related with political, economic, and social
infrastructures and establishments considered in a physical setting. Though, the conditions of
population limits or configuration of social or economic structures are pre defined for particular
cities, yet, they are constituted as political institution governed physical locations. Like other
global cities, municipal government lead by a Mayor with city council is a normal political
structure of cities in Canada. These city governments are liable to collect taxes and other
municipal revenues, make city laws and acts, and administer the civic affairs for the people and
institutions. The processes of urbanization in cities are created through historical processes and
transform the socio-economic, political, environmental, and technological aspects. This paper
discusses the historical and current contexts of Canadian in view of these parameters and
evaluates some important parameters of contemporary urbanization in Canadian cities like
political and legal issues, sustainability, housing affordability, and urban decay. The global
context is also reviewed through the comparison of Canadian and US cities important issues.

Factors Impact Cities Formation in Canada

Krawchenko (2015) asserted in a study that it happen first time in global history that urban
population superseded the rural population, i.e. there are more people live in cities now as
compared to last centuries. The credit goes to rapid economic and technological development
associated with large cities in the world that contributed to most of the urban population; the
development of large metropolises is the most prominent feature of modern cities. According to
Brenner (2004), Savitch and Vogel (2006), and Kemp (2003), suburban areas are more
responsible for the latest growth in population and employment due to the widespread industrial
areas and residential hubs in these areas. Therefore, the boundaries of large cities are expanding
faster than in the past century. In this context, Jonas & Ward, (2002) the regional important of
cities and their surrounding has been increased.

Apart from rapid growth of the physical boundaries of major cities in world, Canadian cities
have shown tremendous growth in post World War II regime die to major factors responsible for
the global important of Canadian cities. The factors that increase the global sense of cities are
attributed as changes in economic forefronts, population demographics, social and cultural
impacts, technology growth, and environmental impacts. These elements have significant impact
on the historical and physical advancement of Canadian cities:

Economic Factors

Canadian cities have faced changes from Subsistence based economy to a capitalist trade based
infrastructures of businesses. The accumulation of capitalist trade is one of the contemporary
modes of economic changes in global cuties. The large cities of Canada like Toronto, Ontario,
Vancouver have become the resource agglomerates and considered as the [key contributors in
global economic scenarios. The physical resources in the cities are gathered, regulated,
transform, and then disseminated to the final users reside within or outside the cities. The local
and regional economies of large cities are connected with the wider economic streams. The
economic changes are responsible for major socio-cultural, political, and demographic changes
in these cities life and infrastructures.

Demographics

Urban landscapes of Canadian cities are largely affected by the composition, size, and
distribution of population. For instance, Surrey city got the status of highest grown city in
Canada due to the rapidly grown population of immigrants from East Asia. Hence, the city
becomes a multicultural centre in the province. According to Liscombe (2011), the Canadian
cities are characterized with respect to the growth in local economy and the climate conditions.
The cities with mild climate, affordability, and condition of the economy receive high
preference. For example, like Surrey is ahead of Victoria or Vancouver as an affordable place of
living for ethnic minorities.

Socio-cultural Impacts

Socio-cultural impact is more diverse and multifaceted on the development of cities and far
reaches than physical feature of cities. The historical development of the cities is affected by
factors like cultural conflicts, treatment with minorities, and social disparities. For instance,
Chinese head tax was levied in Canada in the period of 1859 to 1923, was abolished later in 1923
with the enforcement of Act for Chinese Immigration, that was resulted in cease of immigration
from China. The history changes and after the revolutionary development of China, Canadian
government officially apologized in 2006 and offered financial settlement to affected families
(Levi &Valverde 2006). Similarly, the treatment with Aboriginal children is also responsible for
a major social change. These children were bound to attend church or government schools and
faced severe mental, sexual, and physical abuse in these schools. These schools were act as
separation of Aboriginal children from their families and created a social trauma till the end of
twentieth century (Hulchanski et al 2004). The phenomenon resulted in rapid urbanization of
Aboriginal families, and in year 2008, Canadian government had officially apologized for these
discrimination acts.

Furthermore, in a study of Sucharov (2013), International relations had started considering

emotional and social impacts of nations and acknowledged as an active role in shaping the
regional and local politics. According to Sucharov (2013), asserted that assimilationist and
separationist schools of thoughts by comparing the multicultural artefacts in Canada after
consideration of commercials ‘I am Canadian’ and ‘Souvenir of Canada’. The scholar concluded
that impulses in socio-cultural setting actually strengthen the aim of multiculturalism. Nostalgia
plays an important role in shaping the thinking patterns of groups and dominant groups constitute
cultures of cities. This assumption is in line with the findings of Suttor, (2009) and Krawchenko,
T. (2015) in description of complex cities that the large groups in society need expressive space
to absorb the rapid changes in complex environment of present as compared to the relatively
simple cultural and social past.

Technological and Environmental Impacts

The changes caused by rapid changes in technology and drastic impacts o natural and societal
environments have contributed t the historical development of cities globally. For instance, the
city life in North America and Canada that was revolutionized due to the introduction of steam
engine a century ago now faced the revolution of telecommunication. The cities status has been
changed to technology hubs that are connected globally through internet (Harcourt, et al 2007).
The rapid industrialization in cities has brought t the drastic changes in Canadian cities
environment as well. The city level administration is responsible to assure air and water quality
to citizens. For instance, transportation and industry contributed to heavy production of CO2 that
become a major cause of pollution and lungs diseases on city population. The changes at the
local level are affecting the global climate like other cities of developed countries in Europe and
America.

Major Political & Legal Issues

The effect of political changes is observed at all levels in large cities (Liscombe 2011). The acts
of tax collection and resources allocation are two major tasks of city councils. Therefore, the
formation of laws at the city or district level plays an important part in historical development of
cities like Toronto. The variation in political agendas can create issues of funding for various city
projects, migrants settling, economic disparities, and collection of taxes. In a study of Levi and
Valverde (2006), it is asserted about the Canadian context that the main political issues are cities’
legal powers. The freedom of Canadian cities is even lesser than that of comparative US cities as
the city authorities focus on the political agenda on domestic levels. Levi and Valverde (2006)
further used socio-legal approach to evaluate the legal and political aspects of the municipal
governance. The freedom of cities in Canada is discussed with respect to the available legal tools
for Canadian cities and probable "new deal for cities". This study concluded that there is a
demand for legal change is already generated in the urban landscape of Canadian cities. The
present legal tools available for cities are ineffective to manage the complex urban issues and
responsible for various social problems.