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 is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 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 an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

s, churches,

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

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 Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

, an

ice skating rink An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...

, 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 ...

, 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 States ...

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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, 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 Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, 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 The Edmonton Federation of Community Leagues (EFCL) is a non-profit organization that acts as an administrative body to support community leagues throughout Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and is officially recognized by city council as the coordinatin ...

. 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 to ...

and

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), 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 Communauté métrop ...

. 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 ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

;

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, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

; and

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. 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 Boards Mission The only government-supported civic engagement system in Hawaii, Oahu’s Neighborhood Board System was created in 1973 to assure and increase community participation in the decision-making process of government. The ...

Neighborhood councils of Los Angeles Neighborhood Councils in the City of Los Angeles are city-certified local groups made up of people who live, work, own property or have some other connection to a neighborhood. Neighborhood Council Board Members are elected or selected to their po ...

Advisory Neighborhood Commission Advisory Neighborhood Commissions are bodies of local government in District of Columbia, in the United States. The ANC system was created in 1974 through a District referendum (73 percent voted "yes") in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. T ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

References

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