Municipal

In very broad terms, the word “municipal” relates to a town, city or district, or to the governing body of a town, city or district (as opposed to the governing body of a country).

The word “municipality” refers to a jurisdiction such as a town, city or district that has its own powers of self-government, granted by national legislation. It can also refer to a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco.

It is derived from the Latin “municipium” which relates to “duty holders”.

In the UK, the term was historically used to refer to “..a city or town which is organized for self-government under a municipal corporation, and also for the governing body itself.”

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 reformed the government of towns, with the introduction of municipal boroughs governed by an elected town council of a mayor, aldermen and councillors.

The Local Government Act 1958 allowed small municipal boroughs to be absorbed into surrounding rural districts, becoming rural boroughs. The remaining use of “municipality” was superseded by the word “district” following the introduction of the 1972 Local Government in 1974.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• City.
• Combined authorities.
• Conurbation.
• Megacity.
• Megalopolis.
• Metropolis.
• Metropolitan counties.
• Municipal Dreams: the rise and fall of council housing.
• Municipal energy - briefing sheet.
• Municipal energy.
• Municipal solid waste.
• Rural.
• Smart city.
• Tempe Municipal Building.
• Town.
• Types of city.
• Urban.