Développement et gouvernance aux échelles locales et métropolitaines : une analyse comparative nord-américaine

In this article, we present the results of a study of the linkages between local initiatives and metropolitan institutions in their respective practice for development and governance. The research was carried out on four North-Americans cities —Boston and Pittsburgh in United-States ; Montreal and Toronto in Canada. The results lead us to mitigate our judgment about the participation of local initiatives in the overall regulation of metropolitan space. Beyond a local influence on some aspects of development related to social questions, our study do not permit to valid a popular hypothesis in liberal circles of thought which sees in the development of civil society organizations a real improvement in the capacity of the civil society to really participate in the metropolitan mechanisms of development and governance. At the very most, these organizations create local innovative strategies that procure external resources for the fight against exclusion.