City council

A city council, town council, town board, or board of aldermen is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.

Australia and New Zealand

Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies. However, it 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 larger urban areas of Australia are governed mostly by a single entity (see Brisbane and other Queensland cities), while others maybe controlled by 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.

Local councils in New Zealand do vary in structure, but are overseen by 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.

Cambridge City

Cambridge City may refer to either of the following:

Cambridge City Council

Cambridge City Council is a district council in the county of Cambridgeshire, based in the city of Cambridge.

Activities

The council provides various facilities and services within the city. These include parks and open spaces, waste collection, council housing and local planning.

The Council also organises numerous events throughout the year, including the Cambridge Folk Festival and a program of free summer entertainment entitled Summer in the City. It runs the Cambridge Guildhall, on the south side of the Market Square in the centre of Cambridge, where various events are held.

Councillors

There are forty two city councillors with three assigned to each ward. The party composition of the council is: 24 Labour; 14 Liberal Democrat; 2 independent; 1 Green; and 1 Conservative.

The current (2015) Mayor is Councillor Robert Dryden and the Deputy Mayor is Councillor Jeremy Benstead. The Mayor's duties are almost entirely ceremonial, although they do chair meetings of the full Council.

Cambridge

Cambridge (/ˈkeɪmbrɪdʒ/KAYM-brij) is a university city and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England, on the River Cam about 50 miles (80 km) north of London. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, its population was 123,867, including 24,488 students.

There is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area in the Bronze Age and in Roman Britain; under Viking rule, Cambridge became an important trading centre. The first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although city status was not conferred until 1951.

Cambridge is the home of the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209 and one of the top five universities in the world. The university includes the Cavendish Laboratory, King's College Chapel, and the Cambridge University Library. The Cambridge skyline is dominated by the last two buildings, along with the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, the chimney of Addenbrooke's Hospital and St John's College Chapel tower.

Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology Silicon Fen with industries such as software and bioscience and many start-up companies spun out of the university. Over 40% of the workforce have a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average. Cambridge is also home to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world, soon to be home to AstraZeneca, a hotel and relocated Papworth Hospital.

City

A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.

Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation. The concentration of development greatly facilitates interaction between people and businesses, benefiting both parties in the process, but it also presents challenges to managing urban growth.

A big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are usually associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas, creating numerous business commuters traveling to urban centers for employment. Once a city expands far enough to reach another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. In terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai.

Origins

There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities. Some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces.