City-county Consolidation, Smart City, and Upgrading the Services on LIRR

Political Science EssayNameInstitutional AffiliationDate
Question 3
City-county consolidation plays a great role in cutting down the living costs. Residents in various cities have been looking for ways of merging the city and county to make it easy for them to get the services they need from the authorities. However, there are some which have been successful while others have not been successful. Indianapolis is one of the best examples of city-county consolidation. Indianapolis merged with Marion county in 1970 and it has so far led to creation of common departments for both cities such as the public works, recreation services department and the transport services. The merger made the city to move from the 26th position as the largest in the country to 12th position. In 2003, Louisville merged with Jefferson county. The merger was approved by a referendum and it led to the movement of city from the 65th position as the largest city in United States to 18th position as the largest city. The merger also led to the reduction on the number of municipalities which also cut down the cost of management in the city. A common example where city-county consolidation has failed is Boston city and Suffolk county in Massachusetts. In the 20th century, Boston would provide an oversight of services such as budget and personnel. However, there were three municipalities which were not under the Boston law such as Revere, Chelsea and Winthrop. Due to abolition of the county governments the consolidation ended in 1999. New York City also had a consolidation with New York County during the 17th century. However, in 1874, the consolidation came to an end after some part of their localities were annexed leading to the formation of different consolidations.
Question 4
The growth of the smart cities is a common development in most countries. Technology is one of the aspects which has marked the growth of smart cities possible. This growth often comes with the improvement on the quality of life of the citizens. One of the elements of smart cities is smart governance. It refers to the way the services are provided in the city by the leaders. The use of technologies to facilitate processes such as business application will ensure that the planning of the city services is easier. It will also ensure that the city monitors closely the ac...