Municipal Boundary Battles explores the motivations, land use effects, and financial implications of municipal boundary adjustments across Canada, focusing mainly on annexations and amalgamations—the most frequent means to adjust boundaries and reform local governments in this country. The authors uncover hidden motivations, untangle behind-the-scenes political machinations, and document the ensuing boundary battles, with a focus on mid-size cities and small towns rather than major Canadian metropolitan areas. Through empirical evidence, case studies, and examples among several provinces, the collection helps develop generalizations and inform best practices for municipal boundary adjustments and reform. The volume aims to study this phenomenon to explain how the esoteric aspects of boundary adjustments work in more practical applications, offering political scientists, geographers, municipal officials, and planning practitioners fresh perspectives that contradict much of the prevailing understanding of boundary adjustments. Contributors: Sandeep Agrawal, Cody Gretzinger, John Heseltine, John Meligrana, Jordan Rea, Amrita Singh, Jon Taylor, Zack Taylor. Afterword by Andrew Sancton.

Sandeep Agrawal is an internationally-recognized Canadian scholar of urban planning whose research focuses on local governance, human and Indigenous rights, migration, and energy transition. He is a Professor at the University of Alberta.

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