Summary: Gerald Frug, 2010-2011 James Stirling Memorial Lecturer on the City, speaks on the design of urban governance systems and its effects on the work of urbanists and architects. He focuses on the fragmentation of current urban governance by the allocation of power to a variety of mechanisms (such as public authorities, public-private partnerships, community benefit agreements, referenda) that diminish the authority of elected government. One result of this contemporary fragmentation is frustration, which has led to the increasing attraction of authoritarianism, even for those who live in the most democratic governance systems in the world. This is usually embraced with a reference to China. The James Stirling Memorial Lectures on the City is a competition established in 2003 to create a unique forum for the advancement of new critical perspectives on the role of urban design and urban architecture in the development of cities worldwide. It was conceived in homage to architect James Stirling, who believed that urban design is integral to the practice of architecture and a vital topic for public debate. The Stirling Lectures competition is a collaboration between the CCA and the Cities Programme of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The lecture is also presented at the LSE in 2011. Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, 21 October 2010
