A neighborhood council (also known as a community league) is a governmental or non-governmental body, whose purpose is to promote citizen participation in local government.Martin Minogue, ''Documents on Contemporary British Government: Volume 2, Local Government in Britain''.

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, 1977. . The organization serves as a point of contact between the main city government and the city's residents, through functions such as publishing community newsletters to communicate civic and political issues to the community, making advisory recommendations to the citywide government on the community's needs and its views on governmental policies and issues, and direct participation in the management of neighborhood projects and facilities. Neighborhood councils do not have direct legislative power of their own. Neighborhood councils often act in concert with local

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

s, churches,

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

organizations, and recreational organizations in keeping all members of the community informed of current issues and activities. A typical neighborhood council executive comprises a president, a vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer (these two roles are often carried out by the same person), a representative to the municipal council, and one or more members which represent other community organizations. Depending on the model in place, executive members may be elected either generally by members of the community at large, or internally within the league's pool of active volunteers and members. Other services the councils provide can include meeting and recreation space for the members of the community, typically a

community hall A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

, an ice skating rink, a

playground A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people wi ...

, and so on. Neighborhood councils can be found in many cities throughout the world, especially but not exclusively in large metropolitan cities. The concept is similar but not identical to

neighborhood association A neighborhood association (NA) is a group of residents or property owners who advocate to organize activities within a neighborhood. An association may have elected leaders and voluntary dues. Some neighborhood associations in the United State ...

s, in that while a neighborhood association is generally a private non-profit organization, a neighborhood council is a governmental structure in which multiple distinct neighborhood associations may be participants.

History

The concept has its origins in the 19th-century emergence of "social centers" or "city clubs", community organizations which were formed in the northeastern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to provide a forum for citizens to engage in debate on local political issues. In 1917, the city of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, became one of the first cities in the world to directly formalize social centers as a local government structure, when George Hall, a native of Providence,

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, who had been hired as the city's commissioner of industry in 1912, began implementing a local system of community leagues to assist in addressing the rapidly growing city's social development challenges.

Canada

is noted as having strong system of community leagues. The first community league in Edmonton (the Crestwood community league) was formed in 1917. Now there are 157 community leagues in the city (as of 2017) that are overseen by the Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues. In addition to Edmonton, other cities in Canada that have systems of neighbourhood councils include

Greater Sudbury Sudbury, officially the City of Greater Sudbury, is the largest city in Northern Ontario by population, with a population of 166,004 at the 2021 Canadian Census. By land area, it is the largest in Ontario and the List of the largest cities and t ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. Greater Sudbury formed its community action networks in 2001, when the former towns and cities of the

Regional Municipality of Sudbury The Regional Municipality of Sudbury was a regional municipality that existed in Ontario, Canada, from 1973 to 2000, and was primarily centred on the city of Sudbury. It served as an upper-tier level of municipal government, aggregating municipal ...

were amalgamated into the current city government, while Quebec City has had a system of neighbourhood councils, or ''conseils de quartier'', since the early 1980s.

United States

In the

, such councils are active in cities like

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

;

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

; and

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. They are designed to include representatives of the many diverse interests and needs in the communities that make up a city and to advise on issues of concern.

Lists of neighborhood councils

* Neighborhood Boards of Honolulu * Neighborhood councils of Los Angeles * Advisory Neighborhood Commission in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

References

{{Reflist * Urban planning organizations Community-building organizations Community organizations Community centres