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This paper applies Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs) to understand the diverse behavior of municipal governments in Ecuador to find common elements that influence the well-being of citizens in the short and long term. Information gathering was conducted in two stages: in the first one, a group of 16 national experts was consulted to develop the initial FCM; in the second stage, local experts from 220 municipalities were interviewed to collect information on the general validity of initial FCMs and specific values given to concepts and relationships in their municipalities. Results show the importance of certain concepts for long-term municipal performance, such as the need for a competitive entrepreneurial sector, improving human resources in the municipality, and, particularly, having a competent mayor with leadership skills and a forward-looking vision that enables the development of municipal projects required to reach an efficient and equitable coverage of goods and services throughout the city. Through the application of genetic algorithms, the FCM was calibrated to ascertain the long-term dynamics of municipal development and the optimal values of the concepts that would optimize the attainment of the set objectives. The derived outcomes suggest the desirability of the maintenance of, in principle, unwanted structures like financial transfers from the central government and the need to exploit natural resources to attain urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighbourhood groups are a feature of municipal politics across Canada yet are understudied in mid-sized cities. They are often portrayed as a mechanism for allowing residents to be more engaged in decisions affecting their neighbourhoods and to improve municipal decisions by incorporating the lived experience of municipal residents into that decision-making. It is therefore important to examine the formation of neighbourhood groups, whether they influence municipal decisions, and whether they are representative of their neighbourhoods. This article examines these issues through a case study of four neighbourhood groups in Windsor, Ontario. Using interview data as well as analysis of primary and secondary sources, it examines the top-down and grassroots forces that shaped these groups and their involvement in council decisions relating to vacant buildings in the city. The conclusions reached are that there were clear limits to the influence that they exerted on municipal decision-making. These groups did represent the interests of their communities and, when provided with external resources to develop their institutional capacity, they did help promote municipal policy change. This was, however, incremental change at the margins of the policy process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]