Beautification is the process of making visual improvements to a town, city, or urban area. This most often involves planting trees , shrubbery, and other greenery, but frequently also includes adding decorative or historic-style street lights and other lighting and replacing broken pavement , often with brick or other natural materials. Old-fashioned cobblestones are sometimes used for crosswalks; they provide the additional benefit of slowing motorists.
57-561: Beautification projects are often undertaken by city councils to refurbish their downtown areas, in order to boost tourism or other commerce. Often, this is also spurred by broken sidewalks, which pose a safety hazard for pedestrians and potentially insurmountable obstacles for wheelchair users. These projects are frequently part of other larger projects such as construction, especially in conjunction with ones for transit, such as streets and roads and mass transit . The Laurel Hill Association of Stockbridge, Massachusetts , founded in 1853,
114-477: A Group Representation Constituency (GRC), a Single Member Constituency (SMC), or a collection of neighbouring GRCs and SMCs controlled by the same political party. The Members of Parliament head the town councils of their constituencies. Town councils boundaries do not correspond to new town boundaries; different parts of the same HDB town may be managed by different town councils. In the Republic of China ,
171-700: A Chief Executive Officer or Secretary of the Municipality who is responsible for the day-to-day administration. In cities Municipal Corporation acts as the governing body. Municipal councils are parliamentary bodies established in local authorities in accordance with Article 93 of the Constitution of Japan and Article 89 of the Local Autonomy Act , etc. The Yokohama and Osaka City Councils are examples. The Municipal Council in Moldova
228-667: A City by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 such as Glasgow City Council . The three cities which are not council areas have no city council. In Wales , where the lowest tier of local government is known as a community , the Community Council may unilaterally declare itself to be a Town Council, but this has the same status as a Community Council. A city council may be: City councils and town boards generally consist of several (usually somewhere between 5 and 51) elected aldermen or councillors . In
285-400: A meeting well in advance, so the council can prepare for the meeting. In light of this city council members may, if they think that they information, request submission of additional documents. This practice is often cause for cancellation of the city council. Quorum rules are respected: there must be a minimum number of representatives to be present in order for a decision to be valid. In case
342-407: A month. The city council adopts its rules of procedure within the rule of law. The mayor will call the council to order whenever he considers it necessary and also to build the democratic legitimacy of this assembly elected by direct universal suffrage. City council members are convened by relatively restrictive rules, indeed, the general code of local government imposes a minimum time to call for
399-559: A multitude of much smaller city councils. Also, some significant urban areas can be under the jurisdiction of otherwise rural local governments. Periodic re-alignments of boundaries attempt to rationalize these situations and adjust the deployment of assets and resources. There are currently seven town councils in Belize . Each town council consists of a mayor and a number of councillors, who are directly elected in municipal elections every three years. Town councils in Belize are responsible for
456-627: A municipal council represents a special municipality or a provincial city . Members of the councils are elected through municipal elections held every four–five years. Councils for the special municipalities in Taiwan are Taipei City Council , New Taipei City Council , Taichung City Council , Tainan City Council , Kaohsiung City Council and Taoyuan City Council . Councils for the provincial cities in Taiwan are Chiayi City Council , Hsinchu City Council , and Keelung City Council . In Ukraine , almost all cities have their City Councils, and
513-500: A range of functions, including street maintenance and lighting, drainage, refuse collection, public cemeteries, infrastructure, parks and playgrounds. Township councils in Ontario play a similar role as city councils in cities for smaller or low tier municipalities. Directly elected every four years, the number of councillors vary depending on the size of their municipalities. The councillors' powers and responsibilities are governed by
570-423: A score of other medium-sized cities). These experiments have not experienced the same durability or the same media that children's councils Schiltigheim ( Bas-Rhin ) in 1979, often presented as the first French political experience. Other councils have been created in 1980, but especially since 1990 and early 2000s. These informal bodies are created by municipal councils. Their mode of operation varies by commune,
627-479: A similar but separate form of legislature called " Sangguniang Panlungsod " (literally "city council"). The Local Government Code of 1991 established the current local government structure, including municipal councils. City councils range from 12, in most cities, to 38 members, such as the Manila City Council . Members of city councils are called "councilors". The Local Government Act 2001 restyled
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#1732797841670684-658: A town council. If another type of local council, such as a district authority, covers a single town (such as Luton or Stevenage ) then the council is often a 'borough council': borough status is however conferred at the discretion of the Crown . There is also the London assembly which is City council by default Civil parishes are the most local level in the local government system. The higher levels are district , unitary and county . However town councils are not subordinate in democratic accountability to those higher levels, but to
741-539: A unique case, being at the same time both a commune and a department, it is represented by only one deliberative assembly, called the council of Paris , which has both the role of a municipal council and a general council . The Mayor of Paris also serves as Chairman of the General Council of the department of Paris. The municipal council is chaired by the Mayor , and collectively has the legislative authority on
798-399: Is allowed: Voters have the right to change the ballot by selecting candidates from various lists. The council members are elected using proportional representation with two rounds, with the winning list getting additional seats. The winning list (absolute majority in the first round, relative majority in the second) wins half the seats. The other half is distributed proportionally among all
855-466: Is generally only those local government areas which have been specifically granted city status (usually on a basis of population) that are entitled to refer to themselves as cities. The official title is "Corporation of the City of ______" or similar. Some of the urban areas of Australia are governed mostly by a single entity (e.g. Brisbane and other Queensland cities), while others may be controlled by
912-408: Is led by a mayor ( ordfører ) and is divided into an executive council ( formannskap ) and a number of committees, each responsible for a subsection of tasks. It is not uncommon for some members of the council to sit in the county councils too, but very rare that they also hold legislative ( Storting ) or Government office, without leave of absence . The municipal council dates back to 1837 with
969-413: Is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area . Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council , town council , town board , community council , rural council , village council , or board of aldermen . Because of the differences in legislation between the states , the exact definition of a city council varies. However, it
1026-555: Is the governing body in five municipalities: Chișinău , Bălți , Tiraspol and Bendery (also known as Tighina or Bender ). The Municipal Council ( Moldovan language : Consiliul municipal ) serves as a consultative body with some powers of general policy determination. It is composed of a legally determined number of counsellors (for example 35 in Bălți) elected every four years, representing political parties and independent counsellors. Once elected, counsellors may form fractions inside of
1083-576: Is the oldest incorporated village beautification society in the United States . The Memphis City Beautiful Commission, the oldest city beautification project in the United States, was established in 1930. This aesthetics -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article relating to urban planning is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . City council A municipal council
1140-533: Is used. In addition, candidates who registered their candidacy with the prefecture or sub-prefecture can be elected, whatever the size of the municipality. The election of municipal councilors uses a plurality-at-large voting in two rounds, with panachage : A candidate must registry with the prefecture or sub-prefecture to be elected. Candidates not on a list and incomplete lists are allowed, but can not be elected if they have not previously applied for candidacy. The votes are recorded individually, and panachage
1197-537: The Municipal Act of Ontario. Manitoba town council members serve primarily as a policy and direction board for the community. They consist of five to seven members with the head of council being the mayor or reeve . Municipal councils exist in the People's Republic of China , these are designated as Municipal People's Congress in many sub-provincial cities and direct-administered municipalities such as
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#17327978416701254-495: The Local Government Commission in 1989 when approximately 700 councils and special purpose bodies were amalgamated to create 87 new local authorities. As a result, the term "city" began to take on two meanings. The word "city" came to be used in a less formal sense to describe major urban areas independent of local body boundaries. Gisborne , for example, adamantly described itself as the first city in
1311-649: The Mayor of the town. The mayor presides over the council, which organizes the work and performs the deliberations. The Mayor also has significant powers and their own responsibilities, such as the responsibility for the activities of the municipal police , or the responsibility for the management of municipal council staff. There are certain communes with child councils and/or youth councils with multiple names (municipal youth councils, local youth councils, youth forum etc.). The first municipal youth councils in France were created between 1963 and 1967 (including Sedan and
1368-566: The Shanghai Municipal People's Congress . In spite of enormous differences in populations, each of the communes of the French Republic possesses a mayor ( French : maire ) and a municipal council ( French : conseil municipal ), which manage the commune from the mairie ( city hall ), with exactly the same powers no matter the size of the commune and council. The one exception is the city of Paris, where
1425-574: The borough or sector' councilors which are more numerous but have limited powers, is determined by the PLM Act : Councilors are elected by direct universal suffrage for a term of six years, and can be reelected. The vote takes place following the French election procedures . The electoral system differs depending on the size of the municipality. The term of elected officials is six years. There are no term limits for city councilors. In 2013,
1482-533: The constituencies and district boards . Both of the Municipal Councils in Hong Kong are now defunct. In India,a Municipal council is the legislative and decision making body of a municipality. A municipality is the local government for a smaller urban area, known as municipal area. The entire district under the Municipality is divided into smaller legislative units known as a ward. The people of
1539-638: The Board. The Board was reconstituted in 1935 and hence renamed as Urban Council in the following year after the government had passed the Urban Council Ordinance. Democratisation had been implemented, allowing universal suffrage to happen throughout its development. Two years after the Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong , the council was disbanded in 1999 by the then Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region . All members of
1596-515: The European Union on 1 February 2020 had the consequence that 800 elected conseillers municipaux of British nationality were no longer eligible to be re-elected on 15 March 2020. The number of seats in the municipal council depends on the number of inhabitants. This number is set by law: 7 seats for municipalities with less than 100 inhabitants to 69 seats for those with more than 300,000 inhabitants. The number of councilors depends on
1653-845: The Municipal Council. Last regional elections of local public administration held in Bălți in June 2007, brought to the power the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM), which holds 21 mandates, 11 mandates are held by representatives of other parties, and 3 mandates by independents. There are two fractions in the Municipal Council: PCRM fraction (21 counsellors) and "Meleag" fraction (3 independent counsellors and 4 representatives of different parties). The Mayor of
1710-496: The United States, members of city councils are typically called council member , council man , council woman , councilman , or councilwoman , while in Canada they are typically called councillor . Municipal council (France) In France , a municipal council ( French : conseil municipal , pronounced [kɔ̃sɛj mynisipal] ) is an elected body of the commune responsible for "executing, in its deliberations,
1767-416: The age (9 to 25) and the input mode (election town hall, schools, designation within representative associations, volunteering , etc. mixed system). These spaces are advisory (its deliberations carry no regulatory power if they are not approved by resolution of the elected council or mayor ), but also allows young people to act for their country and take action . Formally, they are often chaired or served by
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1824-516: The business of the town" (translated). The council must meet at least once a quarter , or at a request from at least one third of its members, but usually meets once a month. The council manages the smallest French territorial community with legal and financial autonomy, the commune. Participation in the Municipal council vote as a candidate or as an elector is a privilege given only to European citizens . The British choice and decision to leave
1881-414: The candidate does not have to be registered to be elected. Beginning with the elections of 2014 , the threshold of 3500 inhabitants was reduced to 1000 inhabitants to facilitate the parity between men and women in elected office: Now, plurality-at-large voting is only used in communes with a population less than 1000 inhabitants. For communes with more than 1000 inhabitants, proportional representation
1938-495: The city police is in the hands of the central state , not in the hands of the mayor of Paris. This uniformity of status is a clear legacy of the French Revolution, which wanted to do away with the local idiosyncrasies and tremendous differences of status that existed in the kingdom of France. The size of a commune still matters, however, in two domains: French law determines the size of the municipal council according to
1995-729: The common areas of Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats and estates, such as the common corridors, void decks , lifts, water tanks, external lighting and the open spaces surrounding the estates. They are regulated under the Town Councils Act ;( Cap. 329A, 2000 Rev. Ed. ). The rationale was to delegate the duties of estate management to the members of parliament in addition to their existing responsibilities. They would also gain management experience and be accountable to their district's resident voters. Town councils boundaries are drawn based on electoral districts boundaries. A town council area can consist of
2052-626: The council were elected through universal suffrage by the time of the dissolution. The counterpart of the Municipal Council serving the New Territories (excluding New Kowloon ) was the Regional Council established as the Provisional Regional Council in 1986. The functional select committees, district committees, and sub-committees constituted the entire Regional Council. All members were elected from
2109-620: The creation of the Formannskabsdistrikt . In cities, the council is often called a city council ( bystyre ). The Palestinian National Authority established village councils to serve as local administrations and service providers for Palestinian villages and small towns. Village councils are also referred to as D-level municipalities. In the Philippines , all municipalities have their own municipal council, and these are officially called: " Sangguniang Bayan ". Cities have
2166-414: The electorate of their civil parish area. The chairman of a town council is entitled to be styled as "town mayor". This term contrasts with simply "mayor", which means the mayor of a borough or a city . However, this is often abbreviated simply to mayor, especially where the town was historically a borough or city, such as Lewes or Ely . In Scotland , the term ' provost ' is commonly used to designate
2223-485: The five county boroughs of Dublin , Cork , Galway , Waterford , and Limerick as cities, each with a city council, having the same status in law as county councils. The Local Government Reform Act 2014 amalgamated Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council to form Limerick City and County Council , and Waterford City Council and Waterford County Council to form Waterford City and County Council . In Singapore, town councils are in charge of maintaining
2280-435: The government department Local Government New Zealand . For many decades until the local government reforms of 1989, a borough with more than 20,000 people could be proclaimed a city . The boundaries of councils tended to follow the edge of the built-up area, so little distinction was made between the urban area and the local government area. New Zealand's local government structural arrangements were significantly reformed by
2337-662: The last mayor elections in Chișinău . In the Netherlands, the municipal council (Dutch: gemeenteraad ) is the elected assembly of the municipality. It consists of between 9 and 45 members (as determined by law) who are elected by the citizens once every four years. The council's main tasks are setting the city's policies and overseeing the execution of those policies by the municipality's executive board . Local councils in New Zealand do vary in structure, but are overseen by
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2394-405: The law distinguished between the municipalities of less than 3500 inhabitants and those larger, the first electing their municipal councilors using a two-round system , the second using proportional representation in two rounds. In municipalities with less than 3500 inhabitants, municipal councilors are elected by majority vote in two rounds, and in the municipalities of less than 2500 inhabitants,
2451-438: The leader of the town council. Historically the term 'town council' was used for the governing body of a municipal borough until the 1972 Act . A city council may be: Belfast City Council is now the only city council. Since the local government reforms of 2015 the other four cities form parts of wider districts and do not have their own councils. A city council is the council of one of four council areas designated
2508-406: The lists of candidates for these positions, "the gap between the number of candidates of each gender can not be more than one", to ensure balanced representation of both sexes. The municipal council has authority to regulate the affairs of the community through its deliberations. The council is empowered to make all decisions regarding communal management, except where the law specifically supports
2565-605: The lists with a minimum of 5% of the vote (the first or second round, as appropriate). The lists are blocked. Voters may not select individual candidates from lists, but must vote for an entire list. Each list must contain as many names as there are seats to be filled. A municipal council may be composed of representatives from one list: The three largest cities in France – Paris, Marseilles and Lyon – are divided into electoral areas, corresponding to an arrondissement in Paris and Lyon, or formed by combining two arrondissements in
2622-421: The mayor or other administrative authority. The council makes decisions on the use of property in the municipality. The council votes on the municipal budget, prepared by the mayor and his deputies, and local tax rates, creates and removes the jobs of municipal officials, allows acquisitions and disposals of the commune, approves loans and grants for the town, fixed tariffs for communal services and parking on
2679-603: The mayors (usually elected by people) are the chairmen of them (e.g.: Kyiv City Council , Kharkiv City Council , Odesa City Council , Lviv City Council , Chernihiv City Council ). In the United Kingdom, not all cities have city councils, and the status and functions of city councils vary. In England , since the Local Government Act 1972 , "town council" is the specific name given to a civil parish council which has declared itself by resolution to be
2736-538: The municipality is elected for four years. In Bălți, Vasile Panciuc (PCRM) is the incumbent from 2001 and was re-elected twice: in 2003 during the anticipated elections (as a result of a new reform of the administrative division in Moldova in 2003), and in 2007. In Chișinău, the last mayor elections had to be repeated three times, because of the low rate of participation. As a result, Dorin Chirtoacă (Liberal Party), won
2793-653: The population of the commune; and the size of the population determines which voting process is used for the election of the municipal council. Established as the Sanitary Board in 1883, the Municipal Council in Hong Kong Island and Kowloon (including the New Kowloon ) provided municipal services to the covered regions in the then British Hong Kong . Partial elections were allowed in 1887, though merely enabling selected persons to vote for members of
2850-459: The quorum is not obtained, the mayor must postpone deliberation and convene a new council for which no quorum shall be required in order to not block the functioning of the institution. Any citizen can challenge and argue with the council. In the event of serious malfunction, the council may request a dissolution decree from the Council of Ministers. The municipal council of each commune elects
2907-411: The same area for Marseilles. Each of these sectors elect, following the voting procedure of cities with more than 1,000 residents, municipal councilors Seats for arrondissements councilors are then distributed according to the same rules between list members not appointed to council. All the councilors elected in each electoral area form the council of the arrondissement. The town of Paris is, since 1964,
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#17327978416702964-491: The size of the city. The decree of 27 January 1977 gives that number based on segments of the population of the municipality of 9 members for smaller municipalities up to 49 more cities 300,000 inhabitants. The law of November 1982, which is part of a package of reforms being made by the Law of 31 December 1982 relating to the administrative organization of Paris, Marseille, Lyon and public establishments for cooperation (PLM Act) on
3021-466: The specific case of the three biggest cities of France, changed the composition of municipal councils, maintaining the same segments of the population, from 9 to 49 members. Finally, the Act of 17 May 2013 has been lowered from 9 to 7 the number of councilors in smaller communities with less than 100 inhabitants: For Paris, Lyon and Marseilles , the number of councilors which should not be confused with
3078-429: The street. The council adopts the local development plans , establishes primary and nursery schools. The town owns public domain property (schools, municipal roads, gardens, etc.) and, if applicable, a private area. The public domain is protected by rules of inalienability and the law provides for sanctions to protect this property. The council meets at least once per quarter. In practice, it generally meets once
3135-408: The territory of the commune. The mayor, primarily responsible for preparing and implementing the decisions of the council, is elected by the council, using a two-round system . Since the 2008 municipal elections, the election of deputy mayors in municipalities with more than 3,500 inhabitants is carried out using "party list by absolute majority, without splitting or preferential voting." On each of
3192-521: The ward elect a councillor known as the municipal councillor, and all such councillors together make the Council. The Council is the Legislative and decision-making unit of the Municipality. The head of the council is called a Chairperson, or President, followed by a Vice-chairperson or a Vice-president. All the meetings are conducted and presided over by the President. The state government appoints
3249-536: The world to see the new millennium. Gisborne is administered by a district council, but its status as a city is not generally disputed. Under the current law, the minimum population for a new city is 50,000. The municipal council ( Norwegian : Kommunestyre ), literally municipal board, is the highest governing body of the municipality in Norway . The municipal council sets the scope of municipal activity, takes major decisions, and delegates responsibility. The council
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