THE DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF CHILD CARE: THE CASE OF THE CITY OF WATERLOO, ONTARIO*

The intention of this paper is to stimulate research on the demand and supply of child care services, an issue that has been largely neglected by geographers, although many of the problems involved lend themselves to geographical analysis. In addition, as the female labour force participation rate, the divorce rate, and the incidence of lone-parent families increase, so do the need for and importance of child care. We review the types of child care available in North America and provide statistics to demonstrate that the supply of child care falls short of demand. Furthermore, for the city of Waterloo, Ontario, through the use of 1981 and 1986 Census data we demonstrate that not only is the supply of licensed day care spaces insufficient to meet the demand, but also it is spatially arranged in a suboptimal way. Through population projections and net migration analyses we demonstrate that the demand for child care spaces in the near future is more likely to intensify in the periphery of the city, where the current supply is nonexistent. We thus argue that locational criteria should play a prominent role in the practice of licensing new day care centres. Cet article vise à encourager la recherche sur I'offre et la demande de services de garderie. Ce sujet a été largement négligé par les géographes měme si beaucoup des pro-blèmes rencontrés sont liés à des facteurs géographiques. De plus, la participation des femmes au marché du travail augmentant ainsi que le taux de divorce et le nombre de families monoparentales, les garderies deviennent de plus en plus nécessaires et importantes. Nous passons en revue les différents types de garderies qu'il est possible de trouver en Amérique du Nord et nous présentons des statistiques démontrant que le nombre actuel de garderies ne satisfait pas la demande. D'autre part, à I'aide des données du recensement canadien de 1981 et 1986 pour la ville de Waterloo, Ontario, nous prouvons que non seulement le nombre de places dans les garderies licenciées est insuffisant mais aussi que leur location géographique n'est pas optimale. À I'aide des études sur la population future et la migration nette, nous démontrons que la demande de garderies augmentera vraisemblablement à la périphérie de la ville où les garderies sont actuellement inexistantes. Par conséquent, nous estimons que le critère de localisation doit jouer un rǒle prédominant dans I'octroi des permis d'établissement de nouvelles garderies.     

Gladstone’s Land: the changing face of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile

SUMMARY: This paper presents the results of recent archaeological research into the building known as Gladstone’s Land on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. The aim of the research was to examine to what extent historical fabric had survived in light of extensive historical intervention. The building is a surviving example of Edinburgh’s Old Town urban architecture, which is characterized by tall structures with a shop front and densely occupied residential spaces. The paper presents evidence of the development of the building from the 16th century to its conservation in the 20th century. This development involved the replacement of formerly timber elements in stone and the creation of ornate painted interiors. The history of the building and the archaeological evidence embedded within it offer evidence of the life and changing architectural trends of Scotland’s capital. It also adds to our current understanding of heritage practice in the 20th century, raising issues of authenticity and the social construction of visitor-oriented heritage.     

Popular Presidents Can Affect Congressional Attention,for a Little While

Does the president have the ability to set the congressional agenda? Agenda setting is a prerequisite for influence, so this is an important element in understanding presidential–legislative relations. We focus on the State of the Union address and show that popular presidents can, indeed, cause Congress to shift attention to those topics most emphasized. The impact is tempered by divided government and time, however. No matter the state of divided government, however, popular presidents can direct congressional attention, at least for a little while. Unpopular presidents, by contrast, are irrelevant.