Creative Communities is pleased to present the first in a two-part series on the Creative Economy for small cities.

In the creative attraction model of urban development popularized by the University of Toronto’s Richard Florida, Canada’s small cities sometimes seem like losers by default. In a version of creativity measured by technology parks, numbers of immigrants, and so-called “bohemian” occupations, cities like Sudbury, Moncton and Kingston routinely appear at the bottom of both real and imagined hierarchies of city success. How, then, should smaller Canadian communities—ones that are often grappling with de-industrialization and population decline—go about attracting educated, diverse individuals and building a foundation for a future in the creative economy?

Creative Communities is pleased to present the second in a two-part series on the Creative Economy for small cities.

Part One of this series, explored how livability and sustainability foster the Creative Economy in small cities as much as the traditional “3 T’s”: tolerance, technology, and talent.  It is equally important to note that many of the growth strategies associated with the creative model have been perceived as less successful in smaller Canadian cities than in their metropolitan counterparts.

Just over a month ago, Premier McGuinty received the report on a $2.2 million commission report called "Ontario in the Creative Age." The report by U of T's Roger Martin, Richard Florida, and colleagues, predicted that the province was "on the brink of an economic revolution." This revolution, the authors say, is contingent on the creation of more high-paying "creative" jobs in science, technology, law and management. In this new economic regime, places like Kitchener-Waterloo (a tech centre) and Ottawa (a government centre) appear as winners that are relatively less affected by the recent economic downturn. Less is said, however, about Ontario's small cities and rural areas. What then, might be Eastern Ontario's path to creativity? A key debate emerging in the Toronto Star and Maclean's is the role of education in the development of creative economies. While Martin and Florida suggest better funding for post-secondary education at institutions like Queen's, Loyalist, and Algonquin (essentially an argument for improving human capital), a better alternative outside the province's major commercial centers may be to improve basic literacy. Since literacy is an area of "split jurisdiction," Eastern Ontario may be able to determine its own destiny with regard to improving literacy among the region's hundreds of thousands who may not have skills to cope with most workplace environments. Do you agree with Martin and Florida's hi-tech, higher-ed approach or does this region need to use a back-to-basics approach (focusing on literacy in schools and among adults) where education is concerned?

It seems that "going green" is frequently posited as the newest answer to the economic woes of industrial and formerly industrial regions. Recent articles in both the Kingston Whig Standard ("Let's Make Kingston the Eco-friendlier City," Mar. 5) and the Belleville Intelligencer ("Province Thinking Green," Mar. 7) suggest that Eastern Ontario has the right ingredients to make the transition to cleaner, more efficient energy sources and production strategies. These advantages include an existing manufacturing base, the presence of several educational institutions (e.g., Queen's, St. Lawrence, Loyalist, Algonquin, Fleming, and Trent) advancing renewable energy technology, and both provincial and local policies which promote sustainability such as the Ontario Green Act and Kingston's LEED standards for municipal buildings. The major challenges, these articles indicate, are ensuring that senior policymakers support this trend (e.g., not "capping" the proportions of renewable energy sources used), "scaling down" policy and education efforts to target homeowners and businesses, and keeping the revenue gained from specific projects (e.g., wind farms) within the province. If these challenges are addressed, Eastern Ontario, these articles argue, is positioned to become Canada's leader in sustainability and green technologies. Is this a truly feasible proposition or mostly "buzz" at this point? If this trend truly does progress at the predicted speed, are there any dangers to consider, such as the failure to consult with local communities on green energy projects?