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
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
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
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
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 Geography of the Creative Process
Much of my work is about understanding the role of location in the creative process and how it pertains to the economy. This paper published in the Journal of Economic … Continue reading
Benchmarking Canadian Cities in North America
In 2012 Consider Canada commissioned Local IDEAs to produce a benchmarking system for their 11 city-regions. The purpose was to identify the North American cities with the most similar economic … Continue reading
Urban Form and the Knowledge Economy
I presented a paper at the 2012 Association of American Geographers Annual Conference in New York, NY entitled ‘Knowledge Neighbourhoods: Urban Form and Evolutionary Economic Geography’. The paper is currently … Continue reading
City-region Profiles
This post provides links to data profiles of Canadian city-regions. These profiles were produced for the Innovation System Research Network’s (ISRN) five-year study (2006 – 2010) of Creativity and Innovation … Continue reading
Creativity and Innovation in Canadian City-regions
The Innovation Systems Research Network (ISRN) completed a SSHRC-funded five-year study (2006-2010) of Creativity and Innovation in Canadian City-regions. There were 15 case studies in total as well as country-wide … Continue reading
The Geography of Unemployment
This animation shows local levels of unemployment in Canada and the United States over a twenty year period culminating in the recession years at the end of the previous decade. It … Continue reading
The Creative Economy in Muskoka
Executive Summary Over the past decade, urban and rural communities in Canada and around the world have begun to encourage a creative economy as a mechanism to use local assets … Continue reading
Impact of the Arts in Huntsville
Executive Summary This report argues that arts & culture should be placed at the centre of economic development strategy for The Town Huntsville. While the direct impact of the arts … Continue reading
Local IDEAs 
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 →