CITY GOVERNMENT

a system of governmental institutions that serve an urban area or urban municipality. Modern cities are almost always contained within the boundaries of national states, and their governments form parts of a larger constitutional regime that usually includes state or provincial governments and a national government. A city government's most important functions are to provide law enforcement and fire prevention; elementary and secondary education; water supply, sewage, and refuse collection and disposal; construction, maintenance, and lighting of the streets; regulation of building safety and housing standards; the provision of public housing; various welfare services for the needy; health protection and, in some cases, medical care; and environmental services. Cities also provide museums, parks, playgrounds, and other cultural and recreational facilities. Public-utility services that supply water, electricity, gas, and public transport may be provided by a city government or by commercial companies that are closely regulated by the government. City planning, which involves the coordination of all governmental activities that bear upon community growth and change, is another important function. City governments typically achieve their land-planning goals by enacting zoning laws that govern the use of land and buildings, the density of population, and the height, bulk, and spacing of structures. Planning also involves the use of subdivision controls, which subject the initial laying-out of vacant land to public regulation. The mayor-and-council form is the oldest and most prevalent type of city government in the United States. Both the mayor and council are elected directly by the voters. The mayor typically has strong administrative and executive powers, and he presides over the council and can veto its legislative acts. A newer type, the city-manager system, typically consists of a small elected council that passes ordinances, decides the budget, sets rates of taxation, and appoints a manager, who is in turn responsible for the day-to-day administration of the government.