Governance or Government?

In chapter 13 of the book The New Urban Sociology, by Gottdiener, Hutchison, and Ryan, they discuss regional governance. They believe that during debates of urban problems two main premises are overlooked. The first is the limitations of local government as administrative structures and the second is the particular relationship among the federal, state, and local levels that have always worked against adequate planning and public policy in the United States. Basically what this means is that within metropolitan areas, there are so many levels of government with their own specific purposes which makes their authority fragmented and weakly applied. 

 Well what would happen if government control was consolidated into fewer parts? The authors of The New Urban Sociology argue that there needs to be an understanding of the relationship between spatial and social levels in the study of policy to better sort out who should solely responsible of certain issues in order to address the problems of social justice and uneven development, hence regional governance. they argue that this is possible using Toronto as an example. In 1953, thirteen independent municipalities merged into six. They are responsible for local affairs and the metro council handles area affairs and metro-wide planning. 

Toronto's is seen as a success of regional government because they have low crime rates, they have a very diverse mix of residents compared to any major American city, and their metro-wide government binds resources in the entire region and coordinates the growth of central cities and suburbs, which has allowed them to avoid issues created by uneven sociospatial development. So now my question is can this be done in the United States? Or if not the United States, Illinois or any other state? I would argue that it could work across the United States, but it may still not be effective. We already have a government system in place that makes decisions and policies and administers them, but they still fail to include equity among other things, so it really may not make a difference if the United States utilized governance or not. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Grh2XPGNlg

The video above explains the history of governance in Canada. This video also explains that governance structures are somewhat outdated and need to be reevaluated in order to make sure they maintain good governance. For example, effective representation of diverse populations, aging citizens, integrating transportation networks, new technology, are all challenges of governance, along with the fact that 80% of Canadians now live in urban areas. As expectations grow, the relationship between government and citizens changes. Just like any other system, Canada's system must learn to cope and adapt to demands of the people. Do you think governance is effective or can be effective?

http://www.goodgovernance.org.au/about-good-governance/what-is-good-governance/

The link above is to a website that defines governance and its components