ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the structures and processes of navigating through political polarization in crowded policy environments that are nested within multiple tiers of jurisdiction. In particular, the discussion compares the challenges and prospects of managing divergent discourses and conflicting interests in industrial restructuring in two mid-sized city-regions in Canada and the United States, namely the Niagara and Rochester regions, respectively. The broader context of the two cases consists of the growing problems of industrial decline, economic stagnation, rising income inequality and persistent pockets of poverty plaguing a growing number of mid-sized cities in North America. The key implication of these latest trends is that managing the political arena of urban spaces is now more than ever fraught with contestations as simmering socioeconomic tensions boil to the top of political discourse. The discussion analyzes how the two cases managed their tensions, and concludes with some practical and theoretical lessons for advancing our understanding of managing political polarization for more effective governance.
