On February 16th, Dr. Kevin Stolarick, Research Director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, visited the Monieson Centre to discuss issues and challenges with the rural Creativity Economy (CE).  My own research has given me the opportunity to study the CE in smaller cities in Northern Ontario. 

CE research has long been criticized in both academic and policy circles for its bias towards large cities; notably, through our work for the Innovation Systems Research Network Kingston study we found that CE variables like talent, technology and tolerance are in fact biased by design to favour larger cities (see Nathaniel Lewis and Betsy Donald’s recent article in Urban Studies, “A New Rubric for ‘Creative City’ Potential in Canada’s Smaller Cities”).  Given that CE literature is chiefly based on the experiences of large cities, it is not surprising that resulting economic development strategies are often focused on urban amenities.  

In their 2007 work on rural counties,"The Creative Class: A Key to Rural Growth," McGranahan and Wojan discovered that individuals in the rural creative class are older and more likely to be married.  Thus, strategies geared at improving the quality of local schools may be more critical than providing urban amenities. In Northern Ontario, I found that creativity and innovation is often overlooked because it is occurring in ‘traditional’ sectors like mining and forestry rather than sectors at the forefront of technological developments like biotechnology and IT (see "Innovation and Creativity on the Periphery: Challenges and Opportunities in Northern Ontario" by Heather Hall and Betsy Donald, 2009).  So where does this leave rural areas and smaller cities?  What can they learn from the CE literature?

The CE literature does stress the importance of investing in people and place.  Rural areas do offer unique place-based opportunities.  In reality, not everyone wants to live the urban life.  Rural areas need to showcase their business and place opportunities and think outside the box to solve their challenges.  The story of Aberdeen, South Dakota from Dr. Stolarick’s presentation is a perfect example.    

I would love to hear from you!  What are the challenges and opportunities with pursuing a Creative Economy development strategy in rural areas?  What does your rural Creative Economy look like?

Video of Dr. Stolarick's seminar, "The Rural Creative Economy: Issues and Challenges" will soon be posted on the KIS YouTube page.

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