Local government is a rich source of accurate and detailed spatial information which is utilised not only at the local level but increasingly at other levels of government. To build the spatial data infrastructure (SDI) at a state and national level, the role of local governments and their motivation to participate in the sharing of spatial information must be better understood. Although instit...

This paper presents and discusses the results from an electronic survey on the use of free and open source software (FOSS) by local governments in Costa Rica. Barriers preventing the use of this type of software are also identified. Comparison of the results from this survey with those obtained from a previous one, conducted under the same project, shows that Costa Rican local governments are i...

-Regulatory agencies in the energy field have suoeessfully used incentives to encourage lectric and gas utilities to implement conservation measures. We develop a method for allocating federal and state funds to reward local governments that adopt effective travel demand management measures and reduce the need for expenditures on expanded roadway capacity. This method is applied to Sacramento u...

America’s local governments spend about one-eighth of our national income, one-fourth of total government spending, and employ over 14 million people. This paper surveys the large and growing economics literature on local governments and their finances. A primary difference between local and national government is the ease of labor mobility within countries, which disciplines local governments ...

This paper reports selected results from a survey of Queensland local governments, conducted in late 2009, that investigated their adoption of state-level disaster management policies and guidelines. The survey comprised an online questionnaire distributed to all Queensland local governments, augmented by focus groups held in the regional coastal and inland administrative centres of Cairns, Mac...

1. introduction by the passage of the industrial revolution and entrance to the post-industrial era, the change and variety in the functions of capitalistic powers, ict revolution, and the speeding up of globalization after the 1960s have brought about renewal of the operational, spatial, and managerial structures of cities. in line with the mentioned changes, the structural changes resulted fr...

Online information technologies are becoming essential tools for urban planning as they support information sharing and participatory decision making in the planning process. Therefore this paper underlines the importance of online planning and e-participation, examines household use of information technology, and discusses the digital divide problem. This paper also explores Australian local g...