Who should govern Australia's cities? Marcus Spiller, Laura Schmahmann and Rhys Murrian contribute to a new book which argues a case for establishing metropolitan governance in Australia.

Australia’s Metropolitan Imperative: An Agenda for Governance Reform argues that metropolitan governments would promote the economic competitiveness of Australia’s cities and enable more effective and democratic planning and management.

The two authors and 18 contributors explore the global metropolitan ‘renaissance’, document the history of metropolitan debate in Australia and demonstrate metropolitan governance failures. They then discuss the merits of establishing metropolitan governments, including economic, fiscal, transport, land use, housing and environmental benefits.