Pathways to Ontario’s Knowledge Economy
Richard Florida, Shade Shutters, & Greg Spencer Ontario, like many jurisdictions, is currently facing major economic upheaval due to rapid advances in technologies, increasing open borders, and shifting work … Continue reading
Creative Economy Employment in the US, Canada and the UK
I co-authored a report recently published by Nesta that compares the ‘creative economy’ employment in the US, UK and Canada. You can read the highlights and download the report here. … Continue reading
Creative & cultural workers are the most networked workers
I am very pleased to announce that my most recent article is now published in the International Journal of Creative and Cultural Industries. The article contrasts the work arrangements, social … Continue reading
Cultivating creativity in the countryside – from rural Ontario to PyeongChang, Korea
During the week of October 19th I was honored to give a seminar at the Academy of Korean Studies on the rural creative economies in Prince Edward County and Muskoka. … Continue reading
Canada’s Urban Competitiveness Agenda
With the assistance of the research team at the Martin Prosperity Institute, Richard Florida and I wrote a report on the competing development models that characterize the Canadian economy. One … Continue reading
Research on the impact of Nortel’s demise on the Ottawa-Gatineau ICT cluster
On August 21, 2015 along with my colleague from University College Dublin, Dieter Kogler, I presented preliminary research on the impact of Nortel’s demise on the Ottawa-Gatineau ICT cluster at … Continue reading
Main Street LRT will help preserve Brampton’s heritage, not destroy it
I grew up in Brampton not far from Main Street where the new LRT is proposed to be built. As the fifth generation of my family to live in Brampton … Continue reading
Knowledge neighbourhoods
My most recent paper examines the link between urban form and the production of knowledge in contrasting economic sectors. Below is the paper abstract and link to the full paper. … Continue reading
Migration and increasing inequality
Balancing economic growth between regions can be tricky business. Local trajectories have a great deal to do with momentum and thus can be difficult to alter. Inter-regional migration is a dynamic that tends to … Continue reading
Education and inequality between Canadian cities
The widely accepted growth model for developed countries in the 21st century is about achieving advantage based on creativity, innovation and knowledge. In a global economic system cost cannot be the main … Continue reading
Where to draw the line on inequality?
Inequality has re-emerged in the public discourse after a long hiatus. Massive structural changes in the economy to a more global knowledge-based system has disrupted previous sources of prosperity and … Continue reading
Regional Innovation Ecosystems
Executive Summary This report examines a wide range of factors that support technological innovation and entrepreneurship in major Canadian city-regions with a special focus on urban areas in Ontario. The … Continue reading
Cluster Atlas of Canada
Report Highlights This report identifies where the major industrial clusters exist within Canada and provides indicators of their relative performance. The purpose is to provide a comprehensive overview of the … Continue reading
The Spatial Scale of Innovation
This report was commissioned by the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation. It mainly examines the geography of patenting activity in Ontario and the spatial relationships between co-inventors. The lead … Continue reading
ANALYSIS – Ontario’s Urban Election
If “all politics are local” and “its about the economy, stupid”, then elections are about economic geography. The Ontario election last week was no exception. The Liberal Party won a … Continue reading
The Changing Economic Structure of Canadian Cities
In 2012 Consider Canada commissioned Local IDEAs to prepare a series of reports on its 11 member city-regions. This set of profiles provide an account of how the structure of … Continue reading
OPINION – Ontario’s Urban Election
Ontario is a province divided. Yesterday’s election underscores very real and troubling schisms between local communities. While much of the election narrative focused on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and … Continue reading
The Sociocultural Dynamics of Creativity and Innovation
Executive Summary Innovation is key to Ontario’s future economic prosperity and competitiveness. The province’s innovative capacity is based on the skills and talents of its workers. The purpose of this … Continue reading
The University and the City
On May 29, 2014 Meric Gertler, the President of the University of Toronto, gave a speech to the Toronto Board of Trade outlining his vision for how the relationship between the … Continue reading
Local IDEAs 
Is the Toronto area ready for renewed regional governance?
Below is an except from an op-ed I wrote for the Toronto Star’s special edition on innovation. A recent article in The New York Times praised the former Metro … Continue reading →