Imagine a Toronto …Strategies for a Creative City.

1 in 4 Creative Industry Jobs in Canada are in Toronto.

The goal of this project is to produce astrategy that addresses the currentneeds of Toronto’s creative economy,promotes its future growth and leveragesthese creative assets to enhanceeconomic and social opportunity.

2 Project Team3 Letter from the Leadership Team6 The Opportunity and the Challenge8 About this Report9 Toronto Has a Great Story ...

12 People17 Enterprise23 Space27 Connectivity30 Imagine a Toronto ...32 Recapping the Opportunities36 Appendix A: Levers/Interventions38 Appendix B: Project Description38 Appendix C: Acknowledgements39 Endnotes

2 Strategies for Creative Cities Project Team

University of TorontoMeric Gertler Project Director. Co-Director,

Program on Globalization and RegionalInnovation Systems (PROGRIS) at theMunk Centre for International Studies

Lori Tesolin Project Management and Research

Sarah Weinstock Project Management and Research

Leadership TeamHelen Burstyn Chair, Board of Directors,

Ontario Trillium Foundation*John Campbell President and CEO, Toronto

Waterfront Revitalization CorporationGeoff Cape Executive Director, EvergreenKaren Carter Founder and President,

Education ConnectionsPier Giorgio di Cicco Poet Laureate,

City of TorontoLuigi Ferrara Director, School of Design,

George Brown CollegeGlen Grunwald President and CEO, Toronto

Board of TradeJohn Honderich Special Advisor to the

Premier on the Future of the GTA andCreative Cities*

Tim Jones CEO, ArtscapeRoberto Martella Owner and Manager, GranoEric Meerkamper Partner, D-Code Inc.Mark Robert Managing Partner, CarluRon Shuebrook Former President, Ontario

College of Art and Design (OCAD)Anne Swarbrick President, Toronto

Community FoundationIlse Treurnicht CEO, MaRSAisha Wickham Executive Director, Urban

Music Association of CanadaMargaret Zeidler President, 401 Richmond

Province of Ontario – Ministry of Research and InnovationIan Bromley Director, Economic

Development and Innovation. Co-chair,Toronto-London Creative Cities Project

Dr. Damian Dupuy Senior Advisor, Innovation Policy

Province of Ontario – Ministry of CultureDonna Ratchford Manager, Arts and

Culture UnitJohn Parsons Policy Advisor, Arts and

Culture Unit

City of TorontoRita Davies Executive Director, Culture;

Economic Development, Culture and Tourism

Karen Thorne-Stone Film Commissioner/Former Executive Director, EconomicDevelopment

Christine Raissis Director, Economic Researchand Business Information; EconomicDevelopment, Culture and Tourism

Terry Nicholson Manager, Cultural Affairs;Economic Development, Culture and Tourism

* The University of Toronto team would like to extend specialthanks to Helen Burstyn and John Honderich for their help indeveloping this report.

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Dear Mr. Premier and Mr. Mayor,

About a year ago, in a flash of inspiration, yourofficials brought together an eclectic group of Torontonians to begin an odyssey. Thoughlargely unknown to one another, we united in joint purpose, our odyssey sparked by a creative internal dynamic that both surprisedand inspired us.

Our mission was one of discovery: Whatmakes a great creative city? How doesToronto stack up? How can Toronto take itsplace among the world’s great creative cities?

Imagine a Toronto …Strategies for a Creative City

Credo for Creative Cities Creativity owns imagination. And imagination is what builds our cities.Creativity commands the allegiance and love of the creative person as a way of being, living, thinking. The imagination that comes of thatallegiance is powerful, self-renewing, and tireless in delight. It permeates all aspects of civic life. It is the only limitless resource.

To know this is to release an industry in perpetual motion. Allegianceto true creativity defines imagination against the myopia of marketgreed. For the ethos of creativity left unchecked, by its naturalgenius, instructs all witnesses to the shared project of wonder. This iswhat makes a city great, a society great and, yes, even productive.

Creativity must become a way of life. It is not a question of ‘sustainability’ but of survival, and the beauty that inspires it. And thekinds of risks that true creativity demands are crucial to that end.

Pier Giorgio Di Cicco Poet Laureate of Toronto

Compelling questions and, as we ultimatelydetermined, so were the answers.

We met often, we thought deeply and wetraveled to learn. We studied London,Barcelona, Berlin and New York – and yes,Toronto too. We compared our experienceswith those of a partner group from CreativeLondon. We explored places in our own cityrarely or never known to us before. We weresupported tremendously by both your officialsand U of T Professor Meric Gertler and his

In today’s world, creativity is a necessity – a must have, not a nice to have. There is a directlink between a flourishing city and the vitality of its creative sector. Toronto is on the cusp of acreative breakthrough.

accomplished team. Together, we gatheredinformation based on what we saw and insightbased on what we learned. You didn’t askspecifically for this group to provide a separatecommentary; yet we feel compelled to provideone, not only for you, but for anyone interested.

In drawing our conclusions and offeringour advice, we were driven by a shared visionfor the city. It provides the foundation for ourreport, the inspiration on which we collabo-rated, the goal to which we all aspire.

It emerged from all of us responding tothe same challenge: ‘Imagine a Toronto ...’ So we did, and the Toronto we imagined isone where:

Talent makes capital danceBeauty trumps utilitarianismPast, present and future are all celebrated There is room for outlandishCreative thinking is embedded in ourway of life Space abounds for artists to flourish Creative people and enterprise flock tosettle and build Teaching of all arts is sacrosanct Nature and people are in balance Our story of diversity and tolerance isknown world-wideWe revere one another’s histories, storiesand expressions Support of the arts is an ongoing commit-ment, not a brief encounterOur ravines are as important to us as canalsare to Venice and beaches are to Sydney Novel ideas are valued, differences arewelcomed and risk-taking is celebratedThe process of public decision-making isin harmony with a culture of creativity The fusion of food and culture is unique Our waterfront entices Our public spaces attract and excite

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Festivals, celebrations and recognition ofthe arts and culture aboundOur citizens regard the city as an ongoingcultural projectWe began and ended our odyssey with the

premise that in today’s world, creativity is anecessity – a must have, not a nice to have.We recognized and later reinforced the beliefthat there is a direct link between a flourishingcity and the vitality of its creative sector. We marveled when told that British PrimeMinister Tony Blair had declared that thecreative industries are now THE most impor-tant sector in London’s economy, and wecame to realize how important it is for ourown leaders to share that truth and wisdom.

From the outset, we struggled to defineboth creativity and the creative sector. Thecreative sector can be as wide as it is deep,covering a host of disciplines. Certainly, it isnot limited to cultural and artistic creativity;it can include and indeed overlap with tech-nological and economic creativity, whichinteract in much the same way.

In Europe, economic development andculture see themselves as working in the samedomain. We feel that attitude should prevailhere. Perhaps, with a new focus on innova-tion emerging in the City and in the Province,the interconnectedness of economic andartistic creativity is already gaining a toehold.

For us, creativity is not a commodity to be suddenly dispensed or manufactured atwill. It is more an individual and collectivestatement of mind, an environment where itcan flourish.

Perhaps our most striking finding is thatToronto need not take a back seat to anyother creative city. This city is on the cusp ofa creative breakthrough. Our institutions,spirit of innovation and diversity put us inthe top echelon. Yet saying it is one thing,

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believing it – and believing in ourselves – isquite another. In the words of Pier Giorgio di Cicco, we need “a new state of mind, a newmodus operandi and a new mythology forToronto.” Or as put by Ilse Treurnicht, CEOof MaRS, “It’s time Toronto goes for gold.”

It is within this spirit and context that we present our findings to you. We feel privileged to have been part of this creativeodyssey. We thank you both for giving us theopportunity to come together and to engageactively in the process of great city building.

Yours sincerely,

THE CREATIVE CITIES LEADERSHIP TEAM

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We are now in the creative age – a time when the generation of economic value in a growing number of sectors depends directlyon the ability of firms to embed creativity and cultural content within the goods andservices they produce.

Familiar goods such as clothing, furnitureand food products depend on creative andcultural content for their competitive success,and consumers are willing to pay higherprices for products that are well designed andculturally distinctive. Knowledge-intensiveproducts such as computers, mobile commu-nication devices and biomedical technologiesare born of the innovative spark of well educated, creative workers. They also exploitappealing and ingenious design to enhancetheir success in the marketplace. Furthermore,a set of creative industries producing ‘culturalgoods’ – including film and television produc-tion, new media, electronic games, publishing,advertising, design, music, and the visual andperforming arts – now generate a large andsteadily increasing share of our internationaltrade, employment and gross domestic product locally, regionally and nationally.1

Not only does the generation of economicvalue flow from this creative economy, butthe people who work in creative occupationsand industries are themselves drawn toplaces that offer a critical mass of creativeand cultural activity, broadly defined. Theseare places where the arts flourish, with

vibrant and lively local scenes in music, liter-ature, theatre and visual arts. They are citiesthat host cultural traditions from around theworld. They welcome newcomers from avariety of ethnic, racial, religious and nationalorigins, and provide opportunities for theireasy social and economic integration. Theyare also places that enshrine freedom of cultural expression, places that nurture thecreative act.

These developments present Torontowith an enormous opportunity – an opportu-nity to nurture and use its impressive creativeassets, securing its place among the world’sgreat creative cities.

Many cities around the globe have cometo recognize the economic and social benefitsthat flow from the creative economy, and arenow implementing aggressive policies to nurture and promote creative and culturalactivity. In world cities like London, NewYork and Berlin, and in smaller centres likeAustin, Texas and Newcastle/Gateshead, thedevelopment of the creative economy hasbecome a strategic priority, and not only forgenerating wealth and employment opportu-nity. Creative and cultural activity enhances a city’s quality of place, helps to reclaim andrevitalize neighbourhoods, enables moreinnovative thinking and problem-solvingacross all sectors of the economy, and shapesa city’s identity in the face of increasing competition for talent, investment and

The Opportunity …and the Challenge

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recognition. Creative and cultural activity is also a powerful vehicle for communitydevelopment and engagement, providingopportunities for economically disadvantagedneighbourhoods and social groups.

Toronto already has many of the criticalingredients required of a dynamic and globallysuccessful creative city. Its unique assetsinclude an enviable base of talented and cre-ative workers, a level of cultural diversityunsurpassed by any other city in the world,and a strong reputation as a safe, socially harmonious city of liveable neighbourhoods.Its regional economy boasts a wide array ofcreative sectors that form the foundations of its economic base. Science-based creativesectors like biotechnology and biomedicaltechnologies have taken root and, thanks tomajor new investments such as the MaRSCentre, are poised to play increasingly impor-tant roles as economic engines for the Torontoregion. Recent investments in the city’smajor cultural venues and institutions and athriving grassroots arts and music scene arecombining to create a ‘buzz’ about this region nationally and around the world.2

Despite these many enviable strengths,Toronto’s creative economy is now at a criti-cal juncture in its evolution. Competitionfrom other major cities around the world con-tinues to escalate, as they take strategic stepsto position themselves as creative economyleaders. Meanwhile, at home, cultural activitystill struggles to attract the continuing finan-cial and program support it requires to thrive.And while there is abundant evidence ofinnovation in many corners of the creativeeconomy, the city lacks a region-wide, strategicapproach to recognize, nurture and scale uphome-grown successes, while also buildingon best practices identified abroad.

Therefore, this report aims to do three things:

1. Profile Toronto’s creative strengths todemonstrate that the city has many of theassets necessary for its creative economy to achieve its potential as an engine offuture prosperity.

2. Highlight the challenges Toronto mustovercome if it is to support the creativeeconomy in a truly comprehensive and sustainable way.

3. Identify opportunities to strengthenToronto’s creative economy. These opportunities are supported by instructiveexamples from other cities from whichToronto can learn.

This approach recognizes that the mosteffective way to enhance the city’s creativefuture is to enlist the ingenuity, know-how,energy and resources of a broad spectrum ofactors in the region. It also acknowledges thatthe necessary financial resources have not yet been directed towards this goal. Realizingthe opportunities identified in this report will depend on the respective and combinedefforts of all levels of government, private sec-tor, non-profit organizations and individuals.

As a creative city, Toronto must seize the present opportunity to deliver the socialand economic benefits described above and assume its place among the world’s trulygreat cities.

About This Report

People: We looked at the conditions and activities thatstimulate the emergence of future artists, enable the success of creative workers across the economy, attractcultural consumers and build an environment attractive tocreative people. Strong public education and access tocultural activities play a vital role in the formation of creative people, and enhance community engagementand social inclusion. Enterprise: We recognized that creativity often produceseconomic opportunity and that cultural entrepreneursstart and grow creative businesses. Commercializing cre-ative talent enhances wealth and employment generationin the city. We saw how creative enterprises benefit from entrepreneurship support, training and mentoring,incubators and convergence centres.Space: We identified a strong link between creativity andspace. Creative practitioners need space to live, to work,to display and to inspire. A city’s spaces – both naturaland built – accommodate, stimulate and express their residents’ creativity. We found that creative spaces mustbe affordable as well as inspiring.Connectivity: We considered how an urban environmentthat stimulates and supports creativity must also connectmany isolated initiatives. That connectivity is often, if notalways, developed by leadership bodies with a creativitymandate and vision, and supported by intermediaries andorganizations that bring disparate initiatives together andeffectively leverage resources. In order to be enduring andstable, a city’s creative ecology must be well-integrated so that artists, creative industries, government agencies,investment programs, and research communities can interact in productive, mutually reinforcing ways. Vision & Voice: We saw the need for civic organizations,governments and citizens to recognize and celebrate theircity’s creative achievements. By articulating and expressinga strong creative vision, a city’s confidence and appreciation

of local talent will grow, marshalling support for a city-wide creativity agenda. This voice tells the city’s storyworldwide, generating ‘buzz’ and promoting tourism,exports and investment.

The following sections of this report analyze Toronto’sstrengths and weaknesses in each of the first four cate-gories above, identifying strategic opportunities foraction. Taken as a whole, this report is intended as a firstcritical step in generating the coherent vision and voicethat will be necessary to realize these opportunities.

In this report, the terms creative industries, creative occu-pations and creative workers are used to define a specific setof jobs and employees. Creative Industries refer to: Independent Artists | Writersand Performers | Performing Arts Companies | Agentsand Promoters of Performing Arts and Entertainers |Motion Picture and Video Production | Sound Recording| Radio and TV Broadcasting, Pay/Specialty TV andProgram Distribution | Architecture and Related Services| Specialized Design (Graphic, Industrial, Interior,Fashion, Other) | Advertising and Related Services |Newspaper, Periodical, Book and Database Publishers |Software and New Media PublishersCreative Workers are defined as people who work in thefollowing Creative Occupations: Architects andLandscape Architects | Industrial Designers, GraphicDesigners and Interior Designers | Writers and Editors |Producers, Directors, Choreographers and RelatedOccupations | Conductors, Composers and Arrangers |Musicians, Singers and Dancers | Actors and OtherPerformers | Painters, Sculptors, Illustrating Artists andOther Visual Artists | Photographers | Announcers andOther Broadcasters | Theatre, Fashion, Exhibit and Other Creative Designers | Artisans, Craftspersons and Patternmakers

This report provides a summary of the research findings fromthe Strategies for Creative Cities Project and informs thestrategic opportunities articulated in the following sections.

The project team studied a range of creative activities andinterventions used in cities around the world to support thatactivity (see Appendix A). For the purposes of this report, wehave grouped these areas of study into five broad categories:

A detailed case study ofToronto’s creative economy,providing full backgrounddocumentation to supportthe arguments in thisreport, is available atwww.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creative cities.Also available is a docu-ment outlining lessonslearned during the courseof this project.

The Toronto case studyis one of six urban casestudies undertaken for theStrategies for CreativeCities project. The otherfive cities are New York,San Francisco, London,Barcelona and Berlin.

9Toronto Has a Great Story … and the Opportunity to Tell It, Sell It

Rather than reinvent the wheel, this reportstarts with what we know about creativecities in general3 and Toronto in particular.

Creative people…

— Define a city’s identity, create ‘buzz’ and energy

— Regenerate urban neighbourhoods— Promote social inclusion

Creative workers…

— Enhance creative capacity – new ideas,product development, creative solutions

— Spur innovation and re-invent traditional sectors

— Add value and increase productivitythroughout the economy

Creative industries…

— Provide jobs – new career paths and opportunities

— Diversify the employment base — Increase investment, income and exports

Creative activity…

— Helps the city and employers to grow,attract and retain talent

— Promotes city aesthetics and innovativeprojects, instils civic pride

As demonstrated in the following discus-sion, the Toronto region4 is well positioned to nurture and grow all of the elements of thecity’s creative ecology. Its future success will depend on its ability to enrich the localenvironment for creativity to attract andretain creative people, and enhance the cre-ative capabilities of workers and businessesacross the economy.

Toronto is currently undergoing a culturalrenaissance, growing in profile and becomingrecognized internationally for its vibrant cultural industries and rejuvenated culturalinstitutions that harness the breadth anddiversity of talent in the region. Since theeconomic downturn of the early 1990’s,employment in creative industries has grownconsiderably faster than overall employment.Recognition of our creative and cultural assetsis also building through initiatives like the Cityof Toronto’s ‘Live with Culture’ campaign.

Toronto now has an opportunity to capi-talize on its cultural and creative strengths.But the region faces real challenges before itcan do so. The goal of this project is to pro-duce a strategy that addresses the currentneeds of the region’s creative economy, thatpromotes its future growth and that leveragesthese creative assets to enhance economicand social opportunity.

There are over 8,600 Firms in Creative Industriesin the Toronto region.

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Imagine a Toronto ...

1. People. Toronto has a vast and variedpool of creative talent, but much of itremains untapped. Unless we make themost of our people and their creativity,we will not reap the economic and socialbenefits that a creative city has to offer.

Toronto is full of creative people, making aliving from their creative talent and partici-pating in creative activities to learn, play,dream and be inspired.

Creative Participation: Numerous perform-ances and exhibits take place in theatres,museums and other venues across the city.Almost two million adults a year go to thetheatre and 160 clubs in the city feature DJs,musicians and comedians.5 The TorontoInternational Film Festival – the world’slargest public film festival (measured in num-ber of screenings) and second only to Cannesin stature – showed 355 films in 2005, while

the Fringe Festival, Toronto’s largest theatrefestival, will host over 130 productions across24 venues in 2006.6 Overall, estimated atten-dance at city-funded cultural events was over10.5 million in 2004.7

Toronto’s cultural institutions and eventsprovide major opportunities for cultural par-ticipation by local residents and visitors alike.The Royal Ontario Museum welcomesbetween 750,000 and 1 million visitors8

and the Art Gallery of Ontario receives over650,000 visitors annually.9 Festivals inToronto also see high numbers of attendees:10

13— Word on the Street (Canada’s largest out-

door book and magazine festival): 200,000expected to attend in 200611

— Caribana (Toronto’s summer Caribbeanfestival – the largest in North America):over 1 million estimated attendance12

— Pride Week Activities: 1 million estimated attendance13

Creative Workers: At the last census (2001)there were over 62,000 people working increative occupations in the city-region. Takinga wider view, one that includes those whoroutinely exercise their creativity while work-ing in a broader array of occupations (such aslife sciences, physical and social sciences),14

this figure would rise to something approach-ing 400,000.15 From 1991 to 2004, creativeoccupations grew at more than three timesthe rate of the total Toronto CensusMetropolitan Area (CMA) labour force, at acompound annual growth rate of 6 percent(see Figure 1). The fastest growing creativeoccupations during this period were editors,writers and performing artists.16 Toronto rankssecond in North America after Vancouver onRichard Florida’s Bohemian Index – a meas-ure of artistically creative people.17

Multicultural Toronto: Toronto’s multiculturalpopulation is a vital source of creative talent.Populations from around the world bringtheir skills, experience, social networks andartistic traditions to the city, and they devel-op new ones through their interaction withother cultures. In doing so, they represent acritically important economic asset. Moreover,their very presence stands as an indicator of the city’s openness to diverse newcomers.In 2001, nearly 45 percent of the region’spopulation was foreign-born, a proportionconsiderably higher than any other metropol-itan area in North America or Europe.18 Thetop five new immigrant groups to Toronto in 2001 were from China, India, Pakistan, thePhilippines and Sri Lanka.19

Higher Education Institutions: The Torontoregion is home to an abundance of educationalinstitutions providing advanced instructionand training across the creative sectors,including the Ontario College of Art andDesign (OCAD), University of Toronto, York University and Ryerson University and colleges such as Sheridan, George Brown,Seneca, Centennial and Humber. Creativeprograms at Ontario colleges produce morethan 7,000 graduates in fields such as Visualand Performing Arts, Architecture, Advertising,Design, Fashion and Media.20

Grassroots Creative Activity: Creative activityis springing up in neighbourhoods across the city. Queen Street West, for example, hasbeen a hub of creative activity for decades.From music venues to fashion businesses toart galleries, vibrant arts culture has trans-formed this strip in a continuous westwardcreative wave. But this transformation hasbeen followed by another wave of gentrifica-tion and rising rents, forcing many pioneeringartists, galleries and shops to relocate.Nevertheless, creative activity continues tothrive further west on Queen Street.

In Regent Park, grassroots creative talentdevelopment flourishes in Canada’s largestand oldest public housing development.Regent Park Focus is a non-profit organizationusing multiple media to engage youth andencourage creative expression. With its radiostation, newspaper, photography program,music studio, and film and video program,Regent Park Focus teaches creative skills to

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92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04

= Creative Occupations

= Total Labour Force

Compound Annual Growth RatesCreative Occupations: 6.0%Toronto Labour Force: 2.3%

ONTARIO TRILLIUMFOUNDATIONThe Ontario TrilliumFoundation (OTF), anagency of the Governmentof Ontario, invests in cre-ative communities in theGTA and across Ontario.Each year, OTF investsmore than $28 millionacross the GTA, contribut-ing to the vital activities ofmid-sized theatres, artseducation initiatives, andprograms that celebrateToronto’s heritage anddiversity. The Foundationalso supports energy conservation, literacy, community leadership andjob training for newcomers,and is one of the fewsources of capital grantsfor small and mid-sizedorganizations.www.trilliumfoundation.org

Figure 1: Employment Growth in Creative Occupations vs.Total Labour Force: Toronto CMA, 1991-2004

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA. LABOUR FORCE SURVEY, 1991-2004. [CUSTOM TABULATIONS].

workshops and seminars, talent showcasesand competitions, an art and photographyproject, a basketball program, and sponsors aclothing line called Face the Sun.22

Strengths and Challenges

Toronto has deep reservoirs of talent, but astrong consensus amongst the creative industryleaders assembled for this project indicatesthat much of this talent remains underutilizedor underdeveloped. Consequently, importanteconomic and social benefits go unrealized.More avenues for wider participation in boththe consumption and production of creativeactivity must be provided.

Toronto’s multicultural population, asource of vibrant creative expression, is onesuch underutilized asset. Language barriers,discrimination and income barriers limit par-ticipation by new immigrants and visibleminorities, who are increasingly concentratedin the city’s disadvantaged neighbourhoods.The grassroots creative activity in neighbour-hoods like Regent Park represents promisingbut isolated projects that need to be scaled upand replicated in other parts of the city-region.

Toronto’s large youth cohort is anothertremendous creative asset: there are over 1.2million people under the age of 20 living inthe Toronto region.23 But how can youth beenabled to realize their full potential for creative expression, especially when cuts togovernment funding over the past decadehave forced public schools to make difficultdecisions about where to allocate resources?Too often, specialist art teachers, music programs and drama productions have beendeemed expendable. The result is that “for many students, their access to the artsdepends on where they live and their parents’ability to pay for private lessons or fundraisefor arts in their schools.”24

Cuts to after-school community music andarts programs disproportionately affect youthin lower-income households. The Fresh Artsprogram, initiated by the Toronto Arts Council,is an example of a community creativity-basedprogram that successfully developed youthskills in a supportive environment (asdescribed in the sidebar at left). Fresh Artsgave the city a significant number of culturalproducers – artists, singers, rappers, filmmakers

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youth, skills that include broadcasting,DJing, writing, editing, audio production,filmmaking, photography and desktop pub-lishing. Through these media, youth have anopportunity to find their voice on communityissues and gain valuable experience forfuture work in the media industry. Successful‘alumni’ often go on to teach courses in theprogram, continuing to engage with theirpeers and local issues.21 Regent Park Focus,along with other projects such as the RegentPark Film Festival, identifies and developscreative talent in one of Toronto’s manydiverse neighbourhoods.

In the South Etobicoke neighbourhood,the Inner City Visions (I.C. Visions) Projecthas also had success as young people workwith their peers to provide youth engage-ment, leadership development, life skills andtechnical skills programs through urbanmusic and culture. As the first government-funded hip-hop recreational centre in NorthAmerica, I.C. Visions provides a safe environ-ment where youth can express themselvescreatively while representing their community.Through its urban music oriented recreationalprogram, I.C. Visions delivers music industry

FRESH ARTSFresh Arts, an ‘Arts andCulture Job Strategy’ thatran in the early 1990s, hiredyouth (primarily from theFirst Nations, Asian andBlack communities) overthe summer to work oncreative projects. Initiatedby the Toronto Arts Counciland funded through provin-cial employment strategyprograms, its aim was toprovide opportunities foryoung people to gain artis-tic and administrative skillswhile paying them a salary.By connecting with artisticresources in the city (e.g.recording studios, profes-sional artists), the programallowed youth from margin-alized communities to getexperience in all aspects ofthe creative process inseven artistic disciplines.Fresh Arts was, and still is,perceived as a resoundingsuccess by communitymembers and participants,but did not survive achange in provincial lead-ership in 1995.

INTERVIEW WITH KAREN CARTER,EDUCATION CONNECTIONS, MARCH 2006FERNANDEZ, S. 1994. CULTURE FORCE:FINAL REPORT JANUARY 1994.TORONTO ARTS COUNCIL.

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15and videomakers. Many successful musicianson Toronto’s urban music scene, includingKardinal Offishall, Jully Black, Motion and Jelleestone, participated in this programwhile growing up in marginalized Torontocommunities. In the context of recent gunviolence in Toronto, these artists have pointedto programs like Fresh Arts as providing a safe location that could support and fostertheir creative energy in a positive and con-structive environment.25 Similarly, RinaldoWalcott, Canada Research Chair in SocialJustice and Cultural Studies at OISE/UT,points to the cultural outlets provided by pro-grams like Fresh Arts as effective ways to bringalienated youth into the Canadian family:

What we need are programs that will allowyoung people to engage with and make sense ofthe ways in which they can contribute to theculture of their communities and beyond. Suchan approach means providing young peoplespaces where they can offer up alternatives.26

Arts education, libraries and music in the school system must not be seen as frills.In today’s creative economy, they are asimportant as science and math in improvingour productivity and preparing young peoplefor success in life. In both the public educationsystem and community programming, creativedisciplines must be promoted as providingeconomic opportunity and viable career paths.By exposing all youth to creative curriculumand access to creative careers, the seeds fortomorrow’s creative workforce can be sewntoday. Furthermore, creativity-enhancing cur-riculum in school and community programsimparts skills beyond those leading to a futurecareer in traditional creative disciplines.Youth learn to solve problems, ‘think outsidethe box’, develop creative solutions, gainconfidence and express themselves – vitalcapabilities of the workforce in many indus-tries and professions throughout the economy.

Opportunities: Putting People First

1. Expand Creative Programming for Youth All youth in Toronto, regardless of where theylive, should have access to free, high-qualityeducation and training in creative activitiessuch as visual arts, music, theatre, dance, and media. Expanding creative programs ofthis sort will complement recent publicinvestments in major cultural institutions byinvesting in the creative capacity of futureartists and creative workers.

This goal can be accomplished in a varietyof ways. Here are just two ideas:— ‘Doors Open’ visits for schools – The

popular ‘Doors Open Toronto’ program27

could be expanded so school children canvisit culturally significant buildings duringthe school week. This program wouldexpose young people to inspiring creativespaces and great architecture.

— Free museums and art galleries for under-20’s – Once again, barriers to creativeexposure could be removed by givingyoung people from all neighbourhoodsand income levels free access to publicmuseums and art galleries.

2. Transform Local Community Centres intoCreative Community Hubs Toronto has many thriving community cen-tres that can and should be transformed intoneighbourhood hubs. Creative CommunityHubs would combine cultural/creative development programs with the economicrevitalization of an at-risk neighbourhood by providing enabling financial support andservices. This approach capitalizes on exist-ing organizations and knowledge of localissues and conditions, allowing programs tobe developed and adapted to each neigh-bourhood’s specific needs and creative talent– whether in the central city or more suburbanlocations. Pilot projects could be carried out in a few neighbourhoods to start, bothdowntown and in Toronto’s suburbs.

The Point Community DevelopmentCorporation in New York City is an effective

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example of this type of creative communityprogramming linked to local economic devel-opment. The Point uses the creative heritageof the South Bronx (a neighbourhood betterknown for poverty, crime, poor schools and inadequate housing) to catalyze commu-nity development by encouraging youth to cultivate their artistic and entrepreneurialcapabilities. The Point recognizes the talentand aspirations of local residents as the area’sgreatest assets and offers programs to developthat talent in music, dance, photography, the-atre, fashion and other disciplines. Enterpriseand community development activities are connected to the artistic programs while,at the same time, small businesses and non-profit organizations are incubated. In the process, the Point promotes projects that address locally relevant concerns such astransportation, pollution, open space andenvironmental stewardship.28

Another example of successful leveragingof local resources in this manner can befound in Creative London’s Hub Strategy,working in areas of London with high con-centrations of creative businesses. In eachneighbourhood, a lead organization is desig-nated as a focal point through which furtherassistance to cultural industries and creativeactivities is channelled to continue addressinglocal needs. Hubs differ in their structuredepending on local circumstances, but canact as incubators for creative businesses,clearinghouses of information on locally avail-able property, developers of long-term plansfor the local creative sector and promoters oflocal creative work.29 In many neighbour-hoods, Creative London is using this approachto address the needs of economically andsocially disadvantaged communities. In thisway, they are pursuing an economic develop-ment strategy that is both creativity-basedand socially inclusive.

CULTURAL INITIATIVESSILICON VALLEY (CISV)After a 30-year decline inarts curriculum in publicschools in California, a sur-vey of residents in SiliconValley identified the poorstate of arts-based educa-tion as an issue of greatconcern to local residents.Some three-quarters of thepopulation were engagedin some kind of creativeactivity outside their high-tech day jobs, and theywanted their children tolearn creatively as well. Asa result, CISV (a non-profitorganization formed toenrich the creative life ofSilicon Valley) launched the Creative EducationProgram to provide cashgrants, technical assis-tance, and professionaldevelopment to public ele-mentary schools in SantaClara County. The pro-gram’s goal is to have all K-6 students participate inweekly, sequential, stan-dards-based, in-school artsinstruction in one or moredisciplines (dance, music,theatre and visual arts).Each grant site makes afive-year commitment tocreate, improve or expandarts education programsfor its students. TheCreative Education Programprovides four years of seedmoney for planning, pilot,and implementation, withthe grant site graduallyassuming financial respon-sibility for the program bythe fifth year. www.ci-sv.org

3. Fund Arts and Creativity in Public Education Experience in California (as described in the sidebar on Cultural Initiatives SiliconValley) confirms that long-term neglect of artseducation in public schools weakens a city’sattractiveness to highly educated workers withschool-age children. Toronto cannot afford to take this risk at a time when its economicfuture depends on its ability to generate,attract and retain a talented workforce.

As long as funding of arts and creativityremains unstable and spatially uneven withinthe public school system, Toronto’s youth are being short-changed. We are giving themless of an education than they deserve andlimiting their ability to succeed, as well as the ability of the region to reap the social andeconomic benefits of their education.

While governments are prepared toacknowledge the importance of arts program-ming, they are not always prepared to fund it. Stronger advocacy on the part of parents,communities and educators is essential toensure that governments make arts program-ming a priority in public education.

This is largely but not solely an appeal togovernments. Private sector partners who are prepared to fund arts programs in schoolsmust be encouraged to step up to the plateand help the artists and creative workforce oftomorrow – people, in fact, they may someday be employing – receive a full and well-rounded education that includes the arts.

17

Imagine a Toronto ...

2. Enterprise. The key to realizing theeconomic benefits of healthy creativeenterprise is commercialization. The abundance of creative talent inToronto is the key force driving Toronto’s creative industries and itsregional economy.

At the last census, the Toronto region’s cre-ative industries employed almost 133,000people.30 Of these employees, close to 86,000resided in the City of Toronto, representingapproximately two-thirds of regional creativeemployment in 2001.31

Creative industries represented close to 6 percent of the total Toronto CMA labourforce in 2001. Among them, the largestemployers were architecture and relatedservices, publishing and advertising.Regional creative industries combined boastmore than 8,600 firms.32 The Toronto regionis not only a major centre of creative economicactivity nationally, but also performs stronglyin North America.33

Growth in Creative Industries: Toronto’s cre-ative industries have enjoyed notable growthover the past decade, despite economic fluc-tuations in the wake of 9/11 in 2001 and SARSin 2003. From 1991 to 2004, total employmentin creative industries has grown annually at3.1 percent, compared to 2.3 percent for thetotal Toronto CMA labour force.34

Figure 2 compares creative industrieswith other industries in the Toronto region.35

During the 1991-2004 period, creative indus-tries grew faster than financial services(which grew at 1.8 percent), and were catchingup to leading sectors like information andcommunication technology (3.9 percent) and business services (3.8 percent). Toronto’s

18

creative industries also exhibit a high level of specialization, similar to other dominant industries.

Figure 3 shows that during this same period, the top three fastest growing creativeindustries were:— Performing Arts Companies (7.1 percent)— Motion Picture and Video industries

and the Sound Recording industry (5.4 percent)36

— Broadcasting (4.6 percent) Figure 3 further illustrates that Toronto’s

creative sectors have a location quotientabove 1, displaying a high level of employ-ment concentration in the region comparedto the rest of the nation.

Figure 4 demonstrates that, when rankedagainst other selected North American citiesby compound annual growth rate between1990 and 2000, creative employment inToronto (at just slightly over 4 percent) hasgrown faster than that of cities like Montreal(2.4 percent), San Francisco (1.8 percent),Los Angeles (0.8 percent), and Chicago (0.5 percent). The average annual growth in creative occupations was only 0.4 percentin New York City.37

Advertisingand RelatedServices

PublishingIndustries

Architecturaland RelatedServices

SpecializedDesign Services

Agents,PromotersIndependent Artists

Broadcasting

Motion Pictureand VideoIndustries/ SoundRecording Industry

PerformingArts Companies

Creative IndustriesCAGR: 3.1%

Total Labour ForceCAGR: 2.3%

Employment Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) (1991-2004)

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Creative IndustriesCAGR: 3.1%

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Total Labour ForceCAGR: 2.3%

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Figure 2: Growth & Specialization – Toronto’s CreativeIndustries vs. Other Regional Industries: 1991-2004

Figure 3: Growth & Specialization of Toronto’s CreativeIndustries: 1991-2004

Figure 4: Growth & Specialization in Creative Occupations38 –Toronto vs. North American City-regions: 1990-2000

Sources:

Figures 2 and 3:SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA. LABOUR FORCE SURVEY, 1991-2004. [CUSTOM TABULATIONS]

Figure 4:SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA (2001) CENSUS OF POPULATION AND US CENSUS BUREAU (2000) CENSUS EEO TABULATIONS.

Corporation and the Ontario Ministry ofFinance. This refundable tax credit is availableto Ontario-based production companies for30% of qualified Ontario labour expenditureson eligible film and television productions.

Much of the technical expertise availablewithin the sector’s 25,000-strong workforceresults from the presence of internationally-renowned education and training institutionssuch as Sheridan College’s animation and visual effects programs, as well as theCanadian Film Centre and its widely-recog-nized Habitat New Media Lab. The industry’s future competitiveness will relyincreasingly on the ability of these and otherlocal education and training institutions togenerate home-grown talent.

Design: Toronto’s economy is home to some25,000 designers – architects, landscapearchitects, interior, industrial, graphic andfashion designers. It is the largest designworkforce in Canada and the third-largest inNorth America after New York and Boston.Toronto’s design sector grew at a compound annual rate of 4.7 percent from 1991 to2001.44 The industry benefits from advancededucational institutions in Toronto such asOCAD, the George Brown College School of Design, the Faculty of Architecture,Landscape and Design at the University ofToronto, and the York/Sheridan design programs, as well as organizations like theDesign Exchange.

Music and Sound Recording: A comprehen-sive report on culture clusters in CanadianCMAs noted that the 96 establishments in Toronto’s sound recording industry in 2001accounted for one-third of all firms inCanada, employing 75 percent of Canada’ssound recording workforce and earned more than $1 billion in annual operating revenues.45 By 2004, the number of soundrecording firms in the Toronto region hadgrown to 168.46 From the BBC to the NewYork Times and Spin magazine, the region’sbooming independent music scene is gener-ating excitement and recognition with pioneering bands like Broken Social Sceneand innovative, independent record labels.47

Toronto’s Urban Music genre is also makingheadlines with much success attributed tothe showcasing support programs of the

19

TORONTO INTERNATIONALFILM FESTIVALThe largest publicly attend-ed film festival in the world,the Toronto InternationalFilm Festival (TIFF) wasfounded in 1976 as a festivalthat celebrates both commercial and art-housefilms. By promoting filmsand providing accessibleresources and unique edu-cational programs, the TIFFGroup generates $67 millionannually in economicimpacts. Building on thissuccess, a $196 millionFestival Centre will soon becompleted in downtownToronto to provide a year-round home for cinema,gallery spaces, a referencelibrary, and retail and boxoffice space. www.tiffg.ca

Market Share: The Toronto CMA accountsfor nearly one-quarter of national employ-ment in creative industries (close to 550,000people were employed in creative industriesacross Canada at the last Census in 2001). A report by Deloitte and Touche prepared forthe City of Toronto estimates that in 2001,Toronto generated approximately $8.5 billionin cultural GDP.39

The Toronto region is at centre stage ofCanada’s creative economy with several dom-inant sectors. Toronto publishers brought inalmost seven of every ten dollars of nationalbook publishing revenues during 2000-2001,while film producers earned almost 60 percentof all national film revenues. Toronto’s shareof national sound recording revenue is evenhigher at 86 percent.40

Toronto’s Leading Creative Sectors: Examplesof leading clusters both nationally and inter-nationally include:41

Film and Television: Toronto’s film and televi-sion cluster ranks third in North America, withjust under $900 million worth of film and television productions shot in 2005, and theindustry contributes $1.1 billion annually tothe local economy.42 Despite the fact thatfeature film production spending grew by 21 percent from 2004 to 2005, competitionfrom other locations in Canada and abroad isstrong and becoming more intense all thetime. As evidence of this competition, totalspending on ‘major productions’ (includingfeature films, TV specials, TV, miniseries andmovies of the week) decreased by 4 percentand spending on commercials and musicvideos decreased by 9 percent in the same2004 to 2005 period.43

The City of Toronto’s Film and Televisionoffice provides logistical and regulatory sup-port to the industry. Also, the city recentlyappointed a Film Commissioner, responsiblefor strategy and policy promoting Toronto asa film destination and developing relation-ships between the city, the industry andother relevant parties. Other recent develop-ments include FILMPORT, Canada’s largestfilm and media production complex on thecity’s waterfront.

Also supporting the industry is the OntarioFilm and Television Tax Credit, co-adminis-tered by the Ontario Media Development

20

into successful fashion entrepreneurs. Otherspecialized support is needed to enhance andgrow Toronto’s creative sectors.

Toronto’s creative businesses face a short-age of risk capital. Although programs likeToronto’s Creative Trust ‘Working Capital forthe Arts’ address a specific gap in the per-forming arts industry, more of these programsare required to ensure that successful creativebusinesses have access to the capital theyneed to survive and grow.

Entrepreneurs and firms are often drawn to more sophisticated markets or locationsoffering incentives.50 Despite Toronto’s creative strengths, in today’s world of easy travel and communication, other largecreative centres, such as New York, LosAngeles, London and Berlin, are accessibleand enticing. Toronto cannot afford to lose its ‘breakthrough’ firms and talent to thesecity-regions, many of which are now lookingstrategically at how to keep or regain theircreative edge. Rather than be lured to othercities, creative practitioners should find everyreason to stay here and achieve global com-petitiveness from a Toronto base. There is nosimple or single way to keep these enterprisesand entrepreneurs here. The answers lie in a combination of enticements and a multi-pronged approach to making Toronto thelocation of choice for entrepreneurial talentand enterprises.

TORONTO FASHIONINCUBATORThe Toronto FashionIncubator (TFI) has beenproviding an environmentfor designers to developtheir creativity and businessskills, in a desirable, afford-able downtown locationsince 1986. Established tostimulate new businessgrowth and the vitality ofToronto’s fashion industry,the TFI services include:professional space, facilitiesand equipment, businesssupport infrastructure,membership services, consulting/coaching, train-ing and development, networking, marketing andpromotion. Cities like NewYork, Los Angeles, Montreal,Chicago and Sydney have looked to Toronto’sFashion Incubator as amodel of innovation, excellence and leadership. www.fashionincubator.com

THE CREATIVE TRUSTThe Creative Trust is a collaborative communityeffort among Toronto’s performing arts companiesto build a stronger futurefor their sector. Initiated in2003, the ‘Working Capitalfor the Arts’ program ismodeled on arts stabiliza-tion initiatives in the United States, England and Canada that provideleverage to companies in raising funds to eliminate their deficits andexpand/improve operations.

“The concept of workingcapital is something peoplein business and financeunderstand; the matchingof funds, and the fact thatfunds will be available tohelp us continue buildingworking capital, allowed usto successfully pursue newfunding.” – Bengt JörgenArtistic Director, BalletJörgen Canada.www.creativetrust.ca

Urban Music Association of Canada (UMAC).Both UMAC and the Foundation to AssistCanadian Talent on Records (FACTOR) areheadquartered in Toronto, and the City hasalso been selected as the site for the newCanadian Music Hall of Fame.

Performing Arts: Toronto is home to morethan 11,000 performing artists48 and close to200 performing arts companies.49 Performingarts was the fastest growing creative sector in the region during the 1991 to 2004 period (7 percent average annual employment growthrate). Behind the strength of this sector areorganizations such as the Toronto Alliance forthe Performing Arts and The Creative Trust.The Creative Trust’s ‘Working Capital for theArts’ program supports Toronto’s mid-sizedperforming arts companies by assisting withdeveloping their planning and financial skillsand acquiring and maintaining a fund ofworking capital.

Strengths and Challenges

Creative enterprise is undoubtedly thrivingin Toronto. However, as older industries contract or move offshore, the urgency tosupport and promote creative industries as aregional priority is increasingly evident. Tocommercialize creative talent and to enticeentrepreneurs and businesses to locate orremain in the region, a number of challengesmust be addressed.

Creative industries do not follow traditionalbusiness models. Although programs such asEnterprise Toronto exist to promote thegrowth and development of new businessventures, Toronto lacks a coordinated systemthat provides specialized support to creativeenterprise to enable them to move beyondthe initial start-up phase. The TorontoFashion Incubator (TFI) is one example ofhow to provide the affordable workspace and business development support programsrequired to help emerging designers evolve

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21Both successful and recently developing creative sectors need to be recognized, cele-brated and supported strategically. The filmindustry in Toronto is undoubtedly a successstory. The city now faces the challenge of maintaining the industry’s strength andworldwide reputation in the face of strongcompetition from Canadian cities such asWinnipeg and Vancouver, as well as Americancities that are attempting to recapture filmbusiness previously lost to Canada.51

Meanwhile, design has become one ofToronto’s core creative industries. However,this industry has only recently been recog-nized as a sector with strategic growth poten-tial for the region. Continuous recognitionand support allowed our film industry toachieve its global stature and competitive status. Considering Toronto’s ranking as thethird-largest design workforce in NorthAmerica,52 the design industry is well-placedto benefit from similar treatment at homeand win recognition worldwide.

The challenge for all industries is to think creatively and re-invent themselvesconstantly. Today’s enterprises need moreinnovative forms of management, marketing,problem-solving, and greater use of designinputs. One way to advance creativity andinnovation is by promoting collaboration andconvergence among different industries.New models that promote convergence haverecently emerged in Toronto: in sponsoredenvironments like the MaRS Centre (seeOpportunity 7) and in private developmentssuch as 401 Richmond (see page 23). Theseconvergence centres enable the co-location ofvarious organizations and individuals workingin different but related sectors, breakingdown silos thereby fostering ‘collisions’ thatinspire new processes, ideas, products andcompanies. Such environments foster collab-oration among different sectors and encouragefirms to think creatively.

Nascent creative talent and enterpriseplays an important role in job creation, wealthgeneration and other social and economicspin-offs. By addressing the challenge facingthe creative sector, Toronto can reap the full benefit of its creative entrepreneurs and enterprises.

Opportunities: Creativity Means Business

4. Provide Specialized EntrepreneurshipSupport/Business Skill Development forCreative IndustriesTo address the unique needs and realize the full potential of our creative enterprise,Toronto must: — Expand existing small business and

entrepreneurship programs to providespecialized support for creative industries

— Expand sector support initiatives to servecreative industries more effectively

— Create vehicles for sales development,business-to-business forums for investmentand business matching to support the creative industries sector

— Provide incubation space and services forcreative businesses building on the exam-ple of the Toronto Fashion Incubator

Programs such as the New Orleans MusicOffice Co-op, NY Designs (Queens, NY) or Creative London’s Business AcceleratorProgram53 provide different models of specialized support. They include the provi-sion of space to conduct business, access toshared prototyping equipment, workshopsand courses on business planning and marketing, and access to potential investors.

5. Increase Available Cultural/Creative ‘Risk’ Capital Traditional investors often struggle to make sense of the risks inherent in the start-up, expansion and maintenance of creative-sector businesses.

Toronto’s shortage of creative risk capitalmust be addressed. Mechanisms used inother cities should be explored and adaptedin ways appropriate to Toronto’s financial andregulatory climate.

Creative London is addressing the riskcapital gap through the Creative Capital Fund(CCF), a £5 million equity fund that providesseed capital investment and business supportto help early-stage creative entrepreneurs andbusinesses achieve their potential. Established

“[401 Richmond] is an idea that you can createenterprises that involve alot of people, none ofwhom have a lot of capitaland modulate the cash-flow arrangement to allowpeople to get a foot-hold…it’s a very creative economicand urban activity and avery precedent setting one.”

COMMENTS BY GEORGE BAIRD,UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO – QUOTED INCOHEN, N., 2005. ‘THE ZEIDLER EFFECT:HOW ONE FAMILY TRANSFORMEDTORONTO’ IN EDS. MCBRIDGE, J. ANDA. WILCOX, 2005. UTOPIA: TOWARDS ANEW TORONTO. TORONTO: COACHHOUSE BOOKS.

22other creative sectors, enterprises and neighbourhoods can benefit. Toronto shoulddevelop a new convergence centre for thecreative sector.

This centre would bring different creativeenterprises, at various stages, from varioussectors, together under one roof to sparkinnovation, cooperation, and new economicactivity. This centre would also provide ahome for firms from other sectors (e.g. venturecapital and/or information and communica-tion technology) to inspire cross-sector collaboration, business creation, productdevelopment and idea-sharing. The mostnoteworthy example of a science-based convergence and innovation facility is theMaRS Centre. The government of Ontariowas a significant contributor to the redevelop-ment of an old hospital building into a centre that fosters collaboration between thecommunities of science, business and capitalthrough physical co-location, structured networks and the MaRS web portal. MaRScreates an environment that enables a numberof emerging companies to access risk capital,management resources, strategic businesstools and global markets. MaRS’ outreach alsoextends to bridge the gap between the artsand science by hosting music and film festivals, art exhibits and book readings, inaddition to collaborating with the DesignExchange and OCAD on unique design andvisualization initiatives.56

One promising idea is to locate a newCreativity Convergence Centre close to MaRSin Toronto’s Discovery District. MaRS’unique urban setting links it to research andeducational facilities, the financial districtand the cultural city core, in addition todirect access to Toronto’s public transportationsystem. A new centre could leverage theseadvantages of established infrastructure, aswell as the District’s international recognitionand increasing attention from angel investorsand venture capitalists. An alternative – oreven complementary – model would be tosituate such a Creativity Centre on Toronto’swaterfront. In this setting, it could attractnew creative activities to this precinct of thecity, while also inducing investment andemployment growth in a range of sectorsthroughout Toronto’s creative economy. (Forfurther discussion of Toronto’s waterfront,see the following section on Space).

in March 2005, the CCF will make equityinvestments of up to £75,000 in promisingcompanies with further investment possibleonce commercial milestones are met. Every £1invested by CCF must be matched by at least£1 in equity from private investors.54

6. Advance Toronto as a Centre of Design The design sector is an obvious strength ofthe regional economy with the potential bothto contribute to the region’s productivity and to become as internationally recognizedas Toronto’s film sector. A recent study ofToronto’s design industry55 concludes thatToronto needs:— Strategic promotion of local design, locally

and internationally — Promotion of the value of design to

key industries— Promotion of design-related professions

in schools— Inclusion of design in public sector inno-

vation and commercialization strategies,where the current focus rests heavily onR&D and technology

— Provision of tax credits or other incentivesfor incorporating design services

— Strategic placement of designer-consult-ants in business incubators, convergencecentres, and science and business parks

Lessons can be drawn from cities likeMontreal, whose reputation as a centre ofdesign is no accident. As early as 1986, a fed-eral Ministerial Committee identified thepromotion of design as a path to Montreal’srecovery from deindustrialization. This led tothe creation of policies and institutions suchas the Institute of Design Montreal, the position of Design Commissioner and taxcredits for firms that hire designers.

7. Develop a Creativity/InnovationConvergence CentreToronto is already home to successful convergence centres in science and creativeenterprise. It now needs to replicate andscale up these noteworthy successes so that

23

Imagine a Toronto ...

3. Space. Creativity needs space toincubate, to innovate, to agitate, tocogitate, to anticipate, to congregate, to cultivate.

Toronto’s creative spaces range from largeinstitutions to smaller live and/or work spacesto outdoor spaces and natural assets.

Affordable Live and Live/Work Space forCreative Practitioners: Artists and other cre-ative people are routinely priced out of areasthat become popular due to the very creativeactivity that they help to generate. As theyare displaced, their ability to create and to benefit from close interaction with theirpeers is threatened.

Artscape, an international leader in cre-ative community building based in Toronto,is responding to the challenge of displacementthrough a range of development projects,programs, and services. Artscape has been acatalyst in the development of many ofToronto’s most vibrant communities, includ-ing Liberty Village, the Spadina corridor,

Queen Street West, the Distillery HistoricDistrict, and Toronto Islands. Its propertyportfolio includes seven buildings that pro-vide a mix of more than 200 work, live/workand retail studios, galleries, rehearsal, pro-gramming, office, and performance facilities.In 2006, Artscape has more than 25 projectsin development across Canada, the US, and UK including eight capital projects inToronto with an estimated capital cost of $85 million.57

Also providing affordable space for cre-ative practitioners is mission-driven developerurbanspace Property Group. This company’sefforts are aimed at preserving and restoringhistoric spaces to adaptively reuse them forcommercial opportunities for the creative sec-tor. The building at 401 Richmond co-locatescreative producers and micro-enterprises ofmany different types, charging both market

and below-market rents according to tenants’ability to pay, and providing common facili-ties such as a café, a roof garden and an earlylearning centre. The Robertson Building, at215 Spadina, is home to the Centre for SocialInnovation, an affordable space for a group ofcultural, environmental, and socially-drivenorganizations that work in a collaborative anddynamic environment.

Toronto’s ‘Cultural Renaissance’: Toronto iscurrently experiencing a renaissance as manyof its major cultural institutions undergo renovation or reconstruction. A combinationof public and private (philanthropic) invest-ment has dedicated over a billion dollars tospectacular cultural projects across the city.58

At its conclusion, the Canadian OperaCompany, the National Ballet School, theToronto International Film Festival and theSoulpepper Theatre Company will all havenew homes. The Royal Ontario Museum

TOP: Aerial nighttime view of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal atthe Royal Ontario Museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind, ina joint venture with Bregman + Hamann Architects. The newaddition will open in 2007, featuring a new main entrance,seven galleries, retail and dining facilities. ABOVE: Evergreenis preserving and redeveloping derelict buildings on the oldDon Valley Brickworks site, using sustainable technologiesto create a year-round experiential learning centre.

24and the Art Gallery of Ontario will get archi-tecturally daring extensions. And the RoyalConservatory of Music and the GardinerMuseum of Ceramics are expanding and renovating. These showcase design projectsfollow in the recent tradition of other highly-acclaimed building designs, such as theSharp Centre for Design at OCAD, designedby Will Alsop and Robbie/Young + Wright,and the Leslie Dan Pharmacy buildingdesigned by Norman Foster with MoffatKinoshita for the University of Toronto.

Public and/or Natural Space: Toronto hasmany interesting and attractive natural outdoorspaces. Our parks, woodlands, shoreline,tree-lined streets and unique ravine networkare appealing to walkers, strollers, hikers andbikers. Our outdoor spaces provide opportu-nities to express the city’s creativity and appealto residents. Toronto’s most distinctive naturalasset is its extensive ravine system that criss-crosses the city and provides a naturalrefuge from the bustling urban environment.

Heritage Preservation: Heritage buildingsprovide attractive and intriguing space to accommodate creative activity. Toronto’sDistillery District, once home to theGooderham & Worts Distillery and now aNational Historic Site, has been redevelopedas a pedestrian-only village entirely dedicatedto arts, culture, and entertainment. TheDistrict’s old distillery buildings now houseone of Artscape’s affordable work spacedevelopments for artists and arts organizations,the Young Centre for the Performing Arts(home of both the George Brown TheatreSchool and the Soulpepper TheatreCompany), galleries, cafés and retail boutiquesselling creative products that range from jew-ellery to furniture to photographic services.

Another example of creative heritagepreservation is the Don Valley Brickworks onBayview Avenue, where an old quarry andbrickyards are being restored and developedinto a year-round experiential learning centreand cultural attraction where nature, cultureand community meet. This project is beingcarried out by Evergreen, a charitable organiza-tion working to bring nature and communitytogether, with support and funding from theCity of Toronto, the Province of Ontario andthe Government of Canada. Recognizing the

EVERGREEN COMMONS ATTHE BRICKWORKSThe Don Valley Brickworksis a natural and cultural site located in the centre of Toronto that served asone of Canada’s largestbrickyards and a leader indeveloping brick technolo-gy from 1889 until 1984.Today, it consists of bothhistorical industrial build-ings and wetlands, makingit a unique combination ofresources ideal for educa-tion and urban experience.Evergreen, with supportfrom the local, provincialand federal governmentsand various non-profitorganizations, will developthe site into a year-roundexperiential learning centreand cultural attractioncalled Evergreen Commonsat the Brickworks. Usingsustainable design tech-nologies, old industrialbuildings will be preservedwhile developing them intonew spaces for activitiessuch as environmentaleducation programs,healthy food destinations,art classes, performancesand youth-at-risk employ-ment opportunities.Evergreen Commons at the Brickworks will open in 2007.www.evergreen.ca/en/brickworks/

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role creativity can play in the redevelopmentprocess itself, Evergreen has an artistemployed to help direct the vision and thefuture activities that will be provided on the site.

Design of Built Form: The new City ofToronto Act will give the City more controlover architectural detail and building design,allowing it to influence the look and feel ofits urban form. The City of Toronto plans tolaunch a pilot design review panel by the end of 200659 to advise on and complementcurrent planning tools and design guidelinesalready in place. As design review becomesintegrated into the planning process, it willplay a key role in ensuring design excellencein the city’s built form, a critical step inensuring that the city’s buildings reflect andproject its creative capabilities.60

Strengths and Challenges:

Toronto’s pioneering projects to provideaffordable space for creative activity (Artscape,401 Richmond) offer a much-needed refugefor creative practitioners facing escalatingprices of the property market. Other citieshave come to regard these models as best prac-tice for providing affordable and appropriatespace for certain creative industries. But theyears-long waiting lists for these affordablespaces speak to the urgent need for muchmore accessible and workable space forartists. Theatre space in particular is in highdemand now as properties are converted to high-rise residential or other uses andsmall theatres using these premises mustvacate. Some small theatres have had to close due to this loss of space.61 And, asnoted earlier, property values in recognizedarts districts such as West Queen West haveescalated as the area’s artists and other creative residents make living there highlydesirable. Large-scale condominium devel-opment proposals have been quick to follow,threatening the character of the area as rentsskyrocket and creative activity gets pushedout to the margins.

Toronto needs more affordable, stablespaces for artists and other practitioners.Currently, creative spaces are protected andpreserved in a piecemeal way, without

sustained help from official planning policies.Toronto needs a systematic approach to protecting and creating its affordable space,rather than relying on isolated projectsaccomplished by single arts organizations anda few benevolent developers.

Toronto must also consider its overallspace assets and how best to protect andenhance features such as our liveable scale, our natural ravines, new ‘CulturalRenaissance’ buildings and other bold archi-tecture projects. Toronto must: — Recognize that natural spaces are an

untapped asset where the city couldexpress its creativity.

— Ensure that the design of built form isconsidered a priority and is coordinatedin a city-wide fashion. This means thatdesign must be considered early on in thedevelopment process for its ability to pro-mote interaction, liveable scale, heritageprotection, aesthetic excitement and apositive city image. The land use planningsystem, including the decisions taken by the Ontario Municipal Board, will haveto be more actively supportive of such anapproach if it is to be successful.

— Continue taking risks on bold architecture projects.

Toronto’s waterfront represents one of thecity’s biggest space challenges, but also oneof its greatest potential opportunities. Withhundreds of acres slated for redevelopmentover the next 30 years, Toronto has a vastamount of space for innovative projects thatcould inspire and reflect our city’s creativity.The Toronto Waterfront RevitalizationCorporation has already acknowledged thatculture and creativity play an important rolein its work. It has created an advisory DesignReview Panel and plans to incorporate artis-tic elements into new infrastructure (roads,sidewalks, parks), retain and reuse heritagebuildings, develop live/work spaces for artists to develop lively communities andimprove linkages to the Distillery HistoricDistrict.62 Toronto must ensure that the waterfront becomes a model of great creativy-led urban regeneration that is characterised by good design, creative projects and accessible, stable space for creative practitioners.

26Opportunities: A Strategy for Creative Space

Built Form

8. Provide Affordable and Stable CreativeSpace SystematicallyToronto should take a systematic, coordinatedand strategic approach to ensuring an ade-quate and stable supply of affordable creative spaces. The case of the GreenpointManufacturing and Design Center inBrooklyn is instructive in this regard (seesidebar). So too are the activities of Toronto’sown Artscape, which has emerged as a highlyeffective intermediary in creative spacedevelopment and arts-driven regeneration.Due to its success, new development oppor-tunities and willing partners abound for creative co-location projects in buildings anddistricts across the city. A more systematicand strategic approach would enable Artscapeand other affordable space providers to accelerate the pace of their development.Enabling tools may include: new funding andfinancing instruments, zoning classifications,and development incentives.

Our research uncovered a striking contrastbetween New York City and Berlin. In NewYork, artists are moving to outer boroughs andbeyond as they are no longer able to affordManhattan – leaving a vacuum of creativeactivity in this traditional epicentre of the arts.In Berlin, on the other hand, the abundanceof affordable space is drawing creative talentfrom markets like New York, although itremains to be seen whether this space will be protected.

9. Create a Mortgage Investment Fund forCreative Industries Toronto should create an investment fundwith the express purpose of ensuring thatartists, arts organizations and creative enterpris-es have the financial option of owning ratherthan leasing their premises. The ownershipoption is an effective hedge against theinevitable displacement of creative peopleand enterprises when their neighbourhoodsbecome gentrified.

10. Support Development of WaterfrontGround-Floor StrategyA ‘ground-floor strategy’ along the publicedges of the waterfront would provide space

for creative businesses and animate thewaterfront in order to draw visitors to the area.Such a strategy would see developers leasetheir ground floor space to an official bodythat would manage the right mix of tenants –market-rate retail and established creativeenterprises, as well as subsidized space fornew creative businesses. This project wouldtake one of Toronto’s untapped assets, itswaterfront, and ensure it offers an eclectic,exciting mix of creative spaces and other uses.

11. Support Design Review PanelTreat design as an important public projectby promoting the importance of good designto public officials, the business communityand the public. Toronto’s new Design ReviewPanel, once in place and working effectively,should produce a more liveable and inspiringurban space, and motivate further designexcellence. Toronto needs to support the Design Review Panel when it begins its operations. By supporting this panel andits mission, Toronto will join cities likeMontreal, whose Commissioner of Design isresponsible for increasing public awareness of design, promoting design to public officialsand the business community, and encourag-ing outstanding design.

Natural Space

12. Animate the City Below – Toronto RavinesToronto’s natural spaces, particularly its uniqueravine network, are an opportunity for creativeexpression. There are endless possibilities forcreative recognition and enhancement of this singular natural asset: place creativelydesigned benches throughout ravine walks;install gates with historical inscriptions; designlandscaping that allows closer interactionwith the Don River and its many tributaries;erect entranceways at street level heraldingthe way down to the ravines; place murals atinteresting points along ravineways; offer cul-tural history interpretation; and place lightingand sculptural installations to augment naturalbeauty. These and other projects would animate this remarkable and distinctiveravine network, better support the ravines’role as connectors and travel routes, anddemonstrate how the ravines help us experi-ence Toronto’s natural environment.

GREENPOINT – PRESERVINGAFFORDABLE SPACE FORCREATIVE ENTERPRISESThe New York example iswell illustrated by theGreenpoint neighbourhoodin Brooklyn, where thearea’s zoning recentlychanged from industrial tomixed-use, including resi-dential. This new zoninghas resulted in a rush toconvert buildings in thistraditional manufacturingcommunity into high-costresidential units. Furniture-makers, set-designers andwood-workers, among others, are not only unableto afford space in the area,but can no longer findlong-term leases for indus-trial space. The GreenpointManufacturing and DesignCenter (GMDC) – NewYork’s only non-profitindustrial developer – isone of the only places leftin the newly-zoned areawhere these creative busi-nesses can be guaranteedlong-term and affordableleases in the area. Stablelease agreements are vitallyimportant to these creativemanufacturers as it isextremely expensive, andtherefore undesirable, forthem to move their equip-ment to different locations.This example shows theimportance of employingnon-market solutions toprotect affordable spacefor creative enterprise. Asthese creative manufactur-ers are forced out ofBrooklyn, and often out ofNew York completely, thecity loses their products,their economic impact, andthe very activity that madethe area desirable in thefirst place.www.gmdconline.com

27

Imagine a Toronto ...

4. Connectivity. Creative cities need the connecting infrastructure to supporttheir creative ecology.

It is an ecosystem in which talent thrives,creative enterprises flourish, and where there is a balance among culture, economicdevelopment and social inclusion.

Creative City Components: Many of the com-ponents of a successful creative city alreadyexist in Toronto. The region has creativepeople with innovative ideas who work increative industries, a wide range of viablecreative sectors, existing and potential spacefor creative use, and several public and non-profit bodies concerned with fosteringcreative activity in their respective fields.63

The group of creative industry leadersassembled to support this project have con-sistently and compellingly argued that a keymissing ingredient is a strategy for connectingall these individual pieces and building amore cohesive, integrated and effective creative infrastructure within the city-region.This type of strategy has to include connec-tivity of all kinds: between sectors, betweendifferent arts support organizations, between

different neighbourhood programs, betweenthe public and private sectors to develop newpartnerships, between creative activity andappropriate space, and between differentorders of government to streamline creativity-related public policy.

Organizational Infrastructure: Toronto hasorganizations that support creative industriesand activity. There are various funding bod-ies, foundations and arts councils, industryassociations, large cultural institutions and arts-support organizations. Some partiesalready work to promote the various types ofconnectivity referred to above. For example,the City of Toronto has initiated and/or sup-ported a number of projects over the years(such as Artscape, Fresh Arts, the TorontoFashion Incubator and the Brickworks project)with a goal of strategically developing thecreative environment in Toronto. Artscapefocuses on silo-busting as a key way to buildcreative communities and provide appropriate,affordable space to artists. The University of

Toronto has recently created two new entitieswith a strong link to the broader creativityagenda of the city-region: an Arts Council toforge dynamic partnerships with culturalorganizations throughout the Greater Toronto Area, and a Cities Centre to inte-grate research and teaching on urban issuesacross the university while also buildingstronger connections with public sector andcommunity-based organizations in theregion. However, work on the creative econo-my still often proceeds in isolation, supportingan array of worthy initiatives and ends, butlacking the connective tissue to turn Torontointo a creative powerhouse.

This project’s research revealed a clearcontrast between the successes of city-regions with strong connective infrastructureand the struggles of those that lack thesevital ties. New York City has a great deal ofcreative activity, but its industries and projectsoften work in isolation, each scrambling forsurvival in a city that has become too expen-sive and offers too little support to its artistsand creative types.64 The result has been adeclining creative image and creative practi-tioners fleeing Manhattan. In acknowledgingthe challenges now confronting its culturalproducers, Mayor Bloomberg has recentlyannounced a new city office to provide assis-tance to the city’s struggling arts and culturalgroups. Resting with the New York CityEconomic Development Corporation, this newoffice begins the task of connecting elementsof the creative realm – in this case arts organi-zations, space and financing.65 This small

start signals the recognition that the creativesector needs strategically-connected supportif the city is to benefit from its activity.

London, on the other hand, fosters strongconnections across creative bodies and sectors,and enjoys a reputation for ‘getting it right’ as a creative city. London has a long history of intermediary organizations working on creativity-based neighbourhood regenerationand community development. Also, the UK national government’s acknowledgementthat creative industries play a critical role inthe economy’s health opened public fundingchannels and lent credibility to the creativeeconomy agenda in London. An inquiry intohow best to support the creative industriestook these factors into consideration and cameto the conclusion that a new entity calledCreative London could provide the overallstrategic context lacking in the city, a coher-ent voice to promote and advocate for thecreative industries, and to forge connectionsbetween the many delivery agencies workingacross London.66 Creative London refers toitself as “the plumber, promoter and plannerof the capital’s creativity.”67

London’s experience points to a few valuable lessons for Toronto:

Connecting people and organizations working to promote creativity is important,but it must be accompanied by the connec-tion of projects to vital resources. Byunblocking bottlenecks (such as difficultyaccessing funding and lack of appropriatebusiness support) that limit the success ofcreative enterprise, Creative London fulfillsits ‘plumber’ function. Other jurisdictions suchas the cities of Chicago and San Franciscohave access to sales, hotel, and gas taxesspecifically earmarked to support creativeactivity strategically. Toronto needs to

BELOW: It is vitally important to connect the many differentactivities, practitioners, organizations, community projects,and support programs that generate Toronto’s creativeenergy. This creativity is not limited to the arts and culturalindustries but also serves as the wellspring of innovativedynamism in Toronto’s knowledge-intensive and science-based industries.

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Opportunities: Connecting Toronto’s Creative Elements

13. Develop New Infrastructure Dedicated toConnecting and Promoting Creative TorontoToronto needs a coordinating mechanismdedicated to developing and mobilizing theregion’s creative strategy collaboratively withthe many partners and participants in andaround the city. This could be a networked,multi-stakeholder, umbrella organization. Itcould be an office situated within an existingstructure or an independent organization or amodel yet to be determined. Whatever its formand structure, it needs to span the public, private and non-profit sectors to be effective.

consider its resource base for cultural support,allocate current resources to reflect these pri-orities, and also leverage new sources offunding to ensure the continued success andgrowth of its creative and cultural activity.

Connective infrastructure can provide a vitalmissing component to a city that has plentyof talent, creative activity, and initiatives to support creative industries, but lacks anoverall strategic approach. The Torontoregion lacks the kind of infrastructure that could: — Perform a coordinating function to tran-

scend the many individual creative silosworking in isolation from one another

— Ensure a comprehensive system of supportmechanisms for creative industries

— Promote creativity in all its guises— Provide a forum to share ideas about

creative Toronto— Develop new initiatives to support

creative activity and enterprise— Put a spotlight on the many social and

economic benefits of prioritizing creativityin the Toronto region

— Coordinate and complement the manyorganizations working at the neighbour-hood level to address local needs

In short, Toronto needs infrastructure that can connect and coordinate creative elements at and between two levels – city-wide and neighbourhood.

This infrastructure’s mandate would be to enhance the creative potential of theToronto region. More specifically, it would be charged with:— Providing a focal point for the many creative

projects, activities and organizations in theToronto region

— Acting as a connector and convener of thoseworking on creative projects in the city

— Developing and promoting a strategy thatrecognizes cultural activities and creativeindustries as key drivers of economic vitalityand social inclusion in the Toronto region.

— Fostering an environment that encouragescreativity and innovation to flourish

— Being an advocate of the creativity agendato all levels of government

— Articulating the concept of cities and creativity through creative industriesresearch, benchmarking

— Serving as an honest broker of civicengagement on issues of creativity

— Marketing and communicating the creativi-ty agenda and ‘wins’ to a wide audience ofpublic, private and non-profit stakeholders

— Moving projects arising from theStrategies for Creative Cities project forward – either directly or by involvingother parties

14. Provide Ongoing, Stable Funding forCreative ProjectsWithout financial resources, projects to nur-ture and grow Toronto’s creative sector – bytargeting people, space, or enterprise – cannotachieve their goals. The provision of stablefunding for creative projects must beaddressed so that Toronto can build a supportsystem worthy of the region’s creative talentand potential. This requires a renewed commitment at all levels of government, as well as a coordinated campaign to engageprivate-sector actors in a focused and effective way. Without this type of consistent,secure funding, it will be difficult to acteffectively on any of the opportunities presented in this report.

30 Imagine a Toronto …The greatness of Toronto today canonly be exceeded by the Toronto weimagine and create tomorrow.

When Torontonians take cultural risks, theevidence suggests that the results are impres-sive. The $7 million restoration of The Carlu,a special events venue designated a NationalHistoric Site, has seen the space returned to its 1930s glory to become one of Toronto’smost glamorous and distinctive venues.Similarly, the provocative architecture ofOCAD’s new Sharp Centre for Design has made a well-deserved splash in the worldof architecture and design.68 The TorontoInternational Film Festival and theInternational Festival of Authors have grownfrom shaky beginnings to earn a place amongstthe premier events in their respective indus-tries. The unique urban programming pioneered by CityTV is now admired and

emulated by television stations around the world.

Despite these impressive initiatives,Toronto remains largely risk-averse, chartinga cautious course that limits the expression of our voice and vision as a creative city. Bold visions, daring projects and creative‘firsts’ must be encouraged and celebrated.This encouragement must come from andalso be offered to governments, agencies and enterprises.

Toronto has plenty of bragging rightswhen it comes to creative and culturalachievements, but rarely exercises them.Humble, unassuming Toronto must over-come its hesitation to brag. It needs a moreaggressive approach to tell and sell its

“The one responsibility a city has is the encouragement of the possibility of excellence. The extent to which it addresses this dutyis how, in comparison to the great cities of the world, it will bejudged. Excellence of education, excellence of health care, excel-lence of baseball, of public transportation, of commerce, of charity,of waterfront, excellence of art galleries, excellence of justice,excellence of opera – to name but a few of the impossible ambitionsof a city that might aspire to greatness.

It is not necessarily the city’s responsibility to achieve these goals,or to pay for them, but it is its job to make room for their possibility,and to celebrate when, against so many odds, that possibilitybecomes reality.

That’s what cities are for.”David MacfarlaneTHE GLOBE AND MAIL, R7, JUNE 10, 2006

31

remarkable creative story to its residents andto the world.

Many of our creative assets have alreadymoved into the spotlight under the City ofToronto’s ‘Live with Culture’ banner. TheCity has also recently launched its ‘face thearts’ recognition program to identify extraor-dinary individuals in the areas of communityarts activism and other forms of creativeexpression – cultural mavericks who haveenriched the life of the city.69 Recent provin-cial government moves to enhance Toronto’screative reputation include a 2006 budgetdedication of $49 million to support Ontario’smajor cultural agencies and attractions. The Art Gallery of Ontario, Royal OntarioMuseum, Canadian Opera Company,National Ballet School, Royal Conservatoryof Music and Gardiner Museum of CeramicArt will all receive funding to help them realize their full economic potential as premier tourist attractions. Also, PremierDalton McGuinty recently appointed a special advisor on the Future of the GreaterToronto Area and Creative Cities. Torontoneeds to build on the success of such initia-tives, broaden their scale and scope, and takethe telling of the city’s story to the next level.Manchester achieved this by appointing aCreative Director whose job is to bring life tothe creative expression of the city’s image.70

Another possibility would be to create theposition of Toronto Publicist to promote the city both here at home and to the rest of the world.

Embracing a culture of risk-taking andproudly proclaiming our creative story willhelp Torontonians to develop a proud visionof their city and the strong voice of a world-leading creative city.

You can’t enforce an attitude. You can’t legislate the human heart. But, you can inspireit by an example of passion and risk-taking,in an atmosphere in which passion and risk-taking can take place. This is the job of the cityat large, to understand that passion and risk begin in daily encounter, on the canvas of everyday life.Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, Toronto PoetLaureate to Mayor’s Roundtable on Artsand Culture – December 2004

At the outset of this document, we framedan opportunity and a challenge now facingToronto. The opportunity is to build on our already impressive assets and uniquecharacteristics as a culturally diverse, sociallyharmonious, economically balanced and liveable place to enhance our position as adynamic, attractive and globally-recognizedcreative city. The challenge stems from theincreasingly aggressive strategic steps takenby competitor cities around the world to position themselves as creative economyleaders, at a time when the commitment tosuch actions in Toronto remains piecemeal,inconsistent, half-hearted and fragmented.

By addressing the key opportunities iden-tified in this report in a concerted, connectedand strategic way, by engaging the energy,commitment, resources and ingenuity of abroad range of actors – public sector, privatesector and non-profit alike – and by providingan appropriate level of funding to supportthese initiatives, this city-region is poised tobecome the dynamic centre of creativity and cultural expression imagined by the leaders whose letter introduced this strategydocument. The time to act is now.

32 Recapping the Opportunities

People

Ensure that all youth are encouraged to think creatively, by teaching them to think andproblem-solve ‘outside the box.’ Part of thisincludes expanding creative programming(both in schools and in communities) that is accessible to all regardless of income levelsor geography. This will not only createToronto’s future talent pool, but also helpcarry on the future vision of what each gener-ation imagines for Toronto.

Opportunity #1: Expand CreativeProgramming for Youth Opportunity #2: Transform Local CommunityCentres into Creative Community HubsOpportunity #3: Fund Arts and Creativity inPublic Education

Enterprise

Create the conditions that allow enterprise andtheir financiers to take risks, by providing spe-cialized business support and access to riskcapital so that firms and entrepreneurs resistthe pull to other markets, and achieve globalcompetitiveness from a Toronto base.

Increase support for sectors that are gaining international attention, such as the region’sbooming music scene and the highly talenteddesign industry, so that they become asindicative of Toronto as the film or financialservices industries.

Inspire all firms and entrepreneurs across all sectors to think creatively (e.g. recognize the added value of investing in better design) and also promote the convergence of creativity and innovation in the arts andother knowledge-intensive sectors such as biotechnology and information and communication technology.

Opportunity #4: Provide SpecializedEntrepreneurship Support/Business SkillDevelopment for Creative IndustriesOpportunity #5: Increase AvailableCultural/Creative ‘Risk’ Capital Opportunity #6: Advance Toronto as a Centreof Design Opportunity #7: Develop Creativity/Innovation Convergence Centre

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Space

Achieve a balance between the need for major iconiccultural institutions and supporting grassrootscreative activity to provide various avenues fordifferent groups to participate in the produc-tion and consumption of creative activity

Design space that is affordable and sustainable forcreative work and play, that gives the city its inspiring edge and bold character, whileremaining liveable, and that innovativelymakes use of untapped natural and publicspace assets.

Opportunity #8: Provide Affordable andStable Creative Space SystematicallyOpportunity #9: Create a MortgageInvestment Fund for Creative IndustriesOpportunity #10: Support Development of Waterfront Ground-Floor Strategy Opportunity #11: Support Design Review PanelOpportunity #12: Animate the City Below –Toronto Ravines

Connectivity

Provide organizing infrastructure that will connectexisting creative activity and resources that currently work in silos whether in different creative sectors, businesses, organizations,neighbourhoods, government departments,organizations, socio-economic groups orlearning institutions.

Opportunity #13: Develop New InfrastructureDedicated to Connecting and PromotingCreative TorontoOpportunity #14: Provide Ongoing, StableFunding for Creative Projects

Fostering the conditions to nurture Toronto’screative livelihood must become a priority.Some encouraging developments are alreadyapparent. The Strategies for Creative CitiesProject demonstrates the beginnings of sucha multi-level and multi-sector agreement toenhance our creative economy. Other projectspaving the way include the public consulta-tion process for the City of Toronto CulturePlan, Artscape’s Creative Places and SpacesConferences, and the newly-created positionof Special Advisor to the Premier on theFuture of the GTA and creative cities.

This report’s opportunities are presented toinspire everyone – they can be taken on by individuals, government departments, creative bodies, foundations, communityorganizations or private enterprise. It is up to all of us to determine how we can createthe conditions for the Toronto we imagine,the Toronto we can be.

+ + + +

Create with:PeopleEnterpriseSpaceConnectivityVision

=

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Appendix A

Levers/Interventions

PeopleDevelopment of Creative Capacity at all Levels of PublicEducation: Creative curriculum in the public school systemis an efficient way to reach all city youth.Investment in Creative Community Programming: Providingaccess to cultural programs at the neighbourhood level,particularly in at-risk neighbourhoods, is a major tool forenhancing social inclusion. This neighbourhood-basedapproach is also the primary way to achieve a creativity-based economic development strategy that improvesrather than undermines social inequity. Such programmingcan identify and develop latent talent, and provide a safeenvironment for learning important life skills.Support for Creative Programs in Higher Education: Strongpost-secondary programs in creative education are vital for grooming creative talent and future creativeindustry employees. Cultural Programming/Festivals/Events: Affordable andaccessible cultural institutions and events increase exposureto creative activity.Talent Attraction and Retention Strategies: These targetedstrategies promote a quality of place that encourages creative workers to move to, or remain in, the city.

EnterpriseTraining and Mentoring: Art and design schools often providelittle or no business training, so creative practitionersneed help acquiring business skills.Creative Entrepreneurship Support: Moving out of the homeis often the hardest leap for creative businesses. Theyneed help with basics like writing a business plan, findingwork space, and hiring employees. This support shouldbe tailored to the specific needs of their industry.Incubators: By providing affordable professional space,shared support services, networking, mentoring, and otherbusiness development functions, incubators can provide anurturing environment for small creative businesses.Creative Sector/Cluster Support: The strategic promotion ofspecific sectors within the region for investment andexport purposes can leverage an urban area’s particularcreative strengths for economic benefit.Showcasing Support: Showcasing creative products andservices (for example, in art galleries or craft-sellingbooths) is often prohibitively expensive for entrepreneurs

and firms, preventing them from getting their products tomarket. Interventions such as websites designed to displaycreative goods for sale and events that open artist studiosto public access can expose buyers to creative productsthat would otherwise remain hidden. Developing Creative Capability of Other Industries: Linking of creative industries with other sectors such as biotech,healthcare, and manufacturing yields benefits for both partners.Specialized Business Support: Traditional business supportis often not appropriate for creative businesses as theyhave different needs than businesses in other sectors.Also, within the creative industries, business types varywidely in size (from the self-employed to many employ-ees), needs, sector focus, audience, and goods produced.For example, support for a ‘designer-maker’ business willdiffer greatly from support for a film company.Convergence Centres: Linking and connecting creative practitioners with similar struggles and needs, so they canhelp and learn from each other, can silo-bust between different scales of enterprise, organizations and sectors,stimulating further creative innovation and subsequenteconomic gains.

SpaceCreating/Protecting Affordable Space for Artists: Creativepeople and businesses are often displaced by rising rents,threatening their ability to survive, create, collaborate,innovate and animate the city. They need affordable, stable space.Creative City Spaces: Improving creative city spaces caninstil a sense of civic pride, and attract and retain creativetalent/knowledge workers, investment, and tourism. Ways to undertake this improvement:— Better Design for Built Form and Public Spaces— Capital Investments into Major Cultural Institutions

and Facilities — Heritage Preservation/Adaptive Building Reuse — Promotion/Financing of Art for Public Spaces (including

natural spaces)Arts-led Neighbourhood Regeneration: Creative people andcultural facilities are a powerful force in regeneratingneighbourhoods. However, non-market forms of inter-vention are usually required to preserve affordable

37

space for creative activity once the regeneration processgathers steam.

ConnectivityLeadership Bodies: A body with a mandate to lead andadvocate for the creativity agenda can promote a widerview of a city’s creative life, connecting all its elements.Intermediaries to connect existing creative activity: Assigningindividuals (or teams) to the task of bridging gaps betweencreative spheres is a simple way to promote connectivity.Such brokers can be situated in governments, in artsorganizations, within specific sector organizations andelsewhere. Their specific purpose is to reach out to otherareas of creative activity (whether in different geographicareas, different departments, different sectors, etc) to connect parties that can learn from each other and/or benefit from collaboration. Networks: Networks are an effective, inexpensive way tospread awareness of different activities and resourceswithin and between sectors. Organized networking activi-ties and events can bring isolated artists together, connectbuyers with creative producers, and create relationshipsbetween members of different creative sectors, for example.These networks can result in artistic collaboration, adviceand support, selling creative products, accessing new markets, and acquiring new skills, customers, relationships,and inspiration. Increased Consideration of Creativity in Existing Structures: Alinked consideration of creative support throughout civiclife is crucial for a sustainable creativity strategy. In otherwords, a strategy must convince all departments/structures that help a city to function (e.g. the planningsystem, education departments, public infrastructure programs, etc) to consider their contribution to the city’screative and cultural life when making decisions.

While connecting people and organizations working oncreativity is important, it must be accompanied by the connection of vital resources to the projects describedabove. Funding bottlenecks threaten a city’s creativityand care must be taken to direct resources efficiently:

Funding/Financing Mechanisms for Creative Projects:Whether directed to support people, enterprise, space, orvoice, tools such as tax incentives and angel investmentfunds connect important projects with necessary resources.Public Funding for the Arts: Strategically connecting tax dollars to vital creative activity can result in dramaticeconomic gains for a city.

Vision & Voice

Developing creative vision:Celebrating Creative Accomplishments: Officially recognizingthe achievements of talented individuals, firms, and leaders builds a proud creative city voice.Developing a Culture of Risk-taking: Risk-taking is inherentto creativity. If a city’s voice is to be reflective of its creativ-ity, it must celebrate risk and promote the understandingthat supporting the ‘risky’ can lead to unprecedented creative success.Developing Multi-level Political Support for a CreativityAgenda: A city’s collective creative voice must include thecommitment from various orders of government andacross departments (e.g. planning, social services, infra-structure, etc) that creativity plays a vital role in allaspects of political, economic and social life.Consensus-building: In order to ensure that a collective and representative creative voice is expressed to theworld, a city’s population must be consulted widely ontheir beliefs and needs regarding creative activities,whether related to leisure, instruction, employment orpublic space. A city’s creative voice will be strongest andmost effective if citizens can see themselves and theircreativity expressed in that voice.

Expressing the vision through creative voice:Promotion/Marketing/Messaging: A city’s creative voice canbe used effectively to define a city’s creative image, catalyze immense city pride, and market its assets bothlocally and abroad.

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Appendix C

Acknowledgements

Toronto Contributors

Hussain Amarshi, Mongrel Media Andy Barrie, CBC RadioJoe Berridge, Urban Strategies Elena Bird, City of Toronto

Culture DivisionJack Blum, FilmmakerStephen Bulger, Stephen Bulger GalleryAtom Egoyan, Film Director Ken Ferguson, Toronto Film StudiosAdonis Huggins and participants,

Regent Park FocusDeborah Huntley, University of Toronto Jennifer Hyland, Sony BMG CanadaSusan Langdon, Toronto Fashion IncubatorDeborah Leslie, University of Toronto*Erin MacKeen, 401 RichmondMichael McClelland, ERA Architects Glen Murray, Navigator LimitedJayne Naiman, City of Toronto,

Waterfront SecretariatMarisa Piattelli, Toronto Waterfront

Revitalization CorporationDan Rosen, City of Toronto Economic

Development DivisionAna Serrano, Habitat New Media Lab,

Canadian Film CentreChandra Siddan, Regent Park

Film FestivalRobert Sirman, National Ballet SchoolTonya Surman, Centre for

Social InnovationSylvia Tyson, FACTORPeter Viducis, City of Toronto Economic

Development DivisionTara Vinodrai, University of TorontoNatasha Webster, University of TorontoScott Weir, ERA ArchitectsLilie Zendel, City of Toronto

Culture Division

London Contributors

Maher Anjum, London Development Agency

Neil Berry, London Development AgencyAndrew Carmichael, Creative

Lewisham AgencyGraeme Evans, London

Metropolitan UniversityDieneke Ferguson, Mazorca ProjectsDavid Hannah, West London CollegeGraham Hitchen, London Development

Agency; Co-chair, Toronto-LondonCreative Cities Project

Jenny Holloway, London Fashion Forum

Sue Hoyle, Clore Leadership ProgrammeNeil Johnston, Paddington

Development TrustPatrick McVeigh, London

Development AgencySarah Purvis, City Fringe PartnershipMichelle Reeves, London

Development AgencyPaul Rodgers, BrixtonAlison Tickell, Creative and

Cultural SkillsTriston Wallace, Skillset

New York Contributors

Matt Bregman, BAM Local Development Corporation

Brian Coleman, GreenpointManufacturing and Design Center

Michael Connor, New Mountain MediaSarah Crean, Garment Industry

Development CorporationBarbara Janowitz, League of American

Theatres and ProducersMary Howard, NY DesignsKathleen Hughes, New York City

Department of Cultural AffairsRobin Keegan, Center for an

Urban FutureHarvey Lichtenstein, BAM Local

Development CorporationGinny Louloudes, A.R.T./New YorkJeanne Lutfy, BAM Local

Development CorporationPaul Parkhill, Greenpoint Manufacturing

and Design CenterAnthony Patton, A.R.T./New YorkVoza Rivers, New Heritage Theatre

Group, Harlem Arts AllianceAngel Rodriguez, Point Community

Development CorporationFrederieke Taylor, Frederieke

Taylor GalleryKellie Terry-Sepulveda, Point

Community Development CorporationSharon Zukin, Brooklyn College and

author, ‘Loft Living’

Other Contributors

Sue Harvey, City of Vancouver CulturalServices (Vancouver)

John Kreidler, Cultural InitiativesSilicon Valley (San Jose)

Kelley Lindquist, Artspace Projects(Minneapolis)

Stacey Michelson, Artspace Projects(Minneapolis)

Maria Rosario Jackson, Urban Institute(Washington D.C.)

The Strategies for Creative Cities Project would like tothank the following individuals for their contributions dur-ing the course of our research and strategy development.

Appendix B

Project Description

The Strategies for Creative Cities Project, launched inDecember of 2004, was funded by the Ontario Ministriesof Economic Development and Trade (now the Ministryof Research and Innovation), and Culture, as well as the Economic Development and Culture Divisions of theCity of Toronto. The project was undertaken collabora-tively with the London Development Agency andGraeme Evans, Director of the Cities Institute, LondonMetropolitan University, UK.

Led by Meric Gertler of the University of Toronto, the Torontocomponent of this project set out to: — Learn how cities around the world are harnessing

creativity to enhance their quality of place, innovativecapacity, economic health and social inclusion.

— Develop a strategy to stimulate Toronto’s creativeeconomy, nurture and grow its creative assets and lever-age those assets for economic and social development.

The project proceeded in three phases:— Phase I: Identify and evaluate the key levers used

internationally to nurture creative activity for economicand social benefits in cities (desk research).

— Phase II: Analyze and evaluate the strategies pursued by six cities (three in Europe, three in NorthAmerica), asking what Toronto can learn from abroad(field research).

— Phase III: Develop a strategy to stimulate and supportcreative activity in Toronto and thus improve the cityboth economically and socially.

A novel feature of this project was the central role of the Strategies for Creative Cities Leadership Team, agroup of creative industry leaders drawn from the arts, educational, non-profit, community-based and business organizations (see list of members on page 2).This team played a triple role as advisors, participants in the research discovery process and collaborators instrategy development.

July 2006

* Special thanks to Professor Deborah Leslie ofthe Cultural Economy Lab, Department ofGeography, University of Toronto for providingaccess to unpublished statistical data.

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Endnotes

1 Statistics Canada reports trade statistics for ‘culture goods’ – original and massproduced goods that contain cultural content, and that result from creativeexpression, including books; magazines; newspapers; films; videos; DVDs; sheetmusic; CDs; cassettes; paintings; photographs; sculptures; ornaments and figurines;architectural plans, designs and drawings; advertising materials; and museumexhibits. While the value of Canada’s exports (all industries) grew by 49 percentbetween 1996 and 2004, cultural goods exports grew by an astonishing 92 percentover the same period. See www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/87-007-XIE/2005001/data.htm for cultural goods export data andstrategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_mrkti/tdst/tdo/tdo.php#tag for exports in all industries.2 See Quart, A. February 26, 2006. ‘Guided by (many, many) voices.’ New YorkTimes Magazine.3 For a more detailed discussion of the importance of creativity in the contemporaryeconomy, and the role of city-regions as centres of creative activity, see: Florida,R. 2003. Rise of the Creative Class. Basic Books; Jacobs, J. 1970. The Economy ofCities. Vintage; Landry, C. 2002. Imagination and Regeneration: Cultural Policy andthe Future of Cities. Council of Europe; and Markusen, A. and King, D. 2003. The Artistic Dividend: The Arts’ Hidden Contributions to Regional Development. Projecton Regional and Industrial Economics: Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.4 Unless otherwise specified, all references to ‘Toronto’ in this document refer tothe Toronto region. Accordingly, corresponding statistical information is reportedfor the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area. 5 City of Toronto. 2003. Culture Plan for the Creative City.6 Telephone correspondence with Toronto International Film Festival Group,February 2006 and Toronto Fringe Festival Newsletter, February 2006. 7 This includes attendance at over 230 organizations that receive annual fundingby the Toronto Arts Council, attendance at the City’s Major CulturalOrganizations and the City’s Local Arts Service Organizations. City of TorontoCulture Division. 2005. Culture Plan Progress Report. [Available atwww.toronto.ca/culture/pdf/Culture-Plan-Progress-Reportpdf.pdf]8 Royal Ontario Museum website: www.rom.on.ca.9 Art Gallery of Ontario, 2004-2005. Annual Report. [Available atwww.ago.net/www/annual_report/pdfs/04-05.pdf]10 For more information on cultural participation, please see the Strategies for Creative Cities Toronto Case Study. [Available atwww.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creativecities]11 Word on the Street website: www.thewordonthestreet.ca/toronto.php.12 Caribana website: www.caribana.com.13 Pride website: www.pridetoronto.com. 2003 media estimates.14 Florida’s definition of the ‘creative core’ includes the creative occupationsreferred to in this report (‘Bohemians’ in his schema), plus Computer andMathematical, Life Science, Physical, and Social Science, and Education,Training, and Library occupations. See Florida, R. 2002. Rise of the Creative Class.New York: Basic Books.15 Statistics Canada. 2001. Census of Population.16 For further details on occupational data, please see the Strategies for Creative CitiesToronto Case Study. [Available at www.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creativecities]17 The Bohemian Index measurement includes authors, designers, musicians,composers, actors, directors, painters, sculptors, artist printmakers, photographers,dancers, artists, and performers. Florida, R. 2002. Rise of the Creative Class. NewYork: Basic Books.18 For more data on Toronto’s multicultural population, please see the Strategies for Creative Cities Toronto Case Study [Available atwww.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creativecities] and Gertler, M.S. and Vinodrai,T. 2006. “The creative city: theory, evidence and the challenge for Europe.”Special session on Technology, Talent, and Tolerance in European Cities. Presented atthe 102nd Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers, Chicago,Illinois. March 7-11, 2006.

19 Statistics Canada. 2001. Census of Population.20 Compiled from Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities. 2001.Employment Profile: A Summary of the Employment Experience of 2000-2001 CollegeGraduates six months after graduation. [Available at www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/serials/eprofile00-01/profile.pdf]21 For more information on Regent Park Focus, please see:www.catchdaflava.com/Regent_20Park_20Focus. 22 Schools Without Borders website:www.schoolswithoutborders.com/SWB/About/?section=organizations&subsec-tion=InnerCity.23 Compiled by City of Toronto, Economic Development Division. Source data:Statistics Canada, 2001. Census of Population.24 People for Education. 2004. “Arts in Ontario Schools.” Press Release.[Available at http://www.peopleforeducation.com/releases/2004/may25_04.html]25 CBC Radio. December 31, 2005. Kardinal Offishall Interview on Big City, SmallWorld and January 6, 2006. Jelleestone Interview on Here and Now.26 Walcott, R. May 29, 2006. “The Disenfranchised.” The Bulletin: University ofToronto. No. 18.27 Toronto was the first city in North America to launch this event, based on thepopular European model. Over one weekend each year, visitors can gain freeaccess to architecturally and/or culturally significant buildings that are usually notopen to the public or that normally charge an entrance fee. Doors Open Torontowebsite: www.doorsopen.org. 28 For further information on the Point Community Development Corporation,please see: www.thepoint.org.29 Creative London website: www.creativelondon.org.uk.30 This figure differs from that of 62,000 employed in ‘creative occupations’ (seepage 13) in that it counts all those employed in creative industries (see page 8for list of included industries), no matter their particular occupation. For example,those working on financial or administrative tasks are included in order to accurately reflect total employment in firms whose primary product or service iscreative in nature. 31 Data available for this report was at the four-digit, 2001 Census, NorthAmerican Industry Classification System code level. Therefore, the definition of creative industries in this report is more conservative than that reported in theCity of Toronto 2003 Culture Plan and other Statistics Canada Reports onCultural Industries.32 Statistics Canada. 2005. Canadian Business Patterns.33 For data comparing Toronto with other North American regions, please see theStrategies for Creative Cities Toronto Case Study. [Available at www.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creativecities]34 Annual Labour Force Survey data was used to calculate growth over the 1991-2004 period. 35 The relative size and performance of the Toronto CMA’s creative industries are shown in Figures 2 through 4. Three measures are simultaneously indicatedon these charts: the number of employees in creative industries within the region(indicated by the relative size of the ‘bubble’), the average annual job growth ratefor the sector (along the horizontal axis), and the relative employment concentra-tion – or Location Quotient – of the sector (along the vertical axis). A LocationQuotient (LQ) above 1 indicates that the region is more specialized in that sectorthan the rest of Canada (or North America in the case of Figure 4). Sectors closestto the upper-right corner exhibit the strongest employment concentration and astrong positive growth rate. 36 Despite the fact that motion picture and video industries and the sound recordingindustry are discrete, due to data suppression for several years associated withLabour Force Survey data, the sound recording industry has been combined withmotion picture and video industries when calculating growth rates from 1991-2004. For similar data suppression issues, the ‘Publishing Industries’ bubble in

40

Figure 3 combines newspaper, periodical, book and database publishers with software and new media publishers.37 Employment in creative occupations is used for comparisons to US jurisdictions.US occupational census data was the most compatible data format at the time thisreport was produced. For more information on employment rankings, please seethe Strategies for Creative Cities Toronto Case Study. [Available atwww.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creativecities]38 Occupational data is the most suitable comparable measure of employmentwith US jurisdictions because it captures the self-employed, while other U.S.industry data sources do not. 39 Deloitte & Touche LLP and Affiliated Entities. 2005. Economic Contribution ofToronto’s Culture Sector. Final report prepared for the City of Toronto. TheDeloitte and Touche report uses a slightly broader definition of creative industriesthan what is used in this report. The 2001 employment figures used by Deloitteand Touche were taken from Coish, D. 2004. Census Metropolitan Areas as CultureClusters. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. 40 Coish, D. (Statistics Canada). 2004. Census Metropolitan Areas as Culture Clusters.Ottawa: Statistics Canada.41 For more detail on Toronto’s creative sectors, please see the Strategies for Creative Cities Toronto Case Study. [Available at www.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creativecities]42 Toronto Film and Television Office Film Facts Page:www.toronto.ca/tfto/stats.htm and City of Toronto Key Industry Clusters: Filmand Television Profile: www.toronto.ca/economic_profile/film.htm.43 For more information on Toronto’s film and television sector, please see theToronto Film and Television Office website: www.toronto.ca/tfto.44 City of Toronto Key Industry Clusters: Design Profile: www.toronto.ca/economic_profile/design.htm.45 Coish, D. (Statistics Canada). 2004. Census Metropolitan Areas as Culture Clusters.Ottawa: Minister of Industry. [Available at http://dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/Statcan/89-613-MIE/89-613-MIE2004004.pdf] 46 Statistics Canada. 2004. Canadian Business Patterns.47 Pacienza, A. December 2005. “Canuck rock bands turned heads around theworld in 2005.” CTV News. [Available atwww.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051214/year_music_051214?s_name=junos2006&no_ads=]48 Statistics Canada. 2001. Census of Population. Four-digit NationalOccupational Classification code level.49 According to Canadian Business Patterns data, Toronto had 191 (both for- andnon-profit) performing arts companies in 2004.50 For a clear-eyed analysis of the challenges Toronto faces in retaining its home-grown creative talent in the face of strong competition – particularly from south ofthe border, see Grant, P. and Wood C. 2004. Blockbusters and Trade Wars: PopularCulture in a Globalized World. Douglas & McIntyre.51 Office of the Mayor of New York City. May 10, 2006. Mayor Bloomberg Announces$30 Million Annual Increase in City Financing for Film Production Tax Credit Program.Press Release. San Francisco Film Commission. April 4, 2006. San Francisco PassesFirst Film and Television Incentive Program in California. Press Release.52 See Design Industry Advisory Committee. 2004. Design Matters: DIAC DesignIndustry Study. [Available at www.dx.org/diac/research]53 For more information on these projects, please see: http://musicofficecoop.com,www.nydesigns.org, www.creativebusinessaccelerator.co.uk.54 For details on the Creative London Creative Capital Fund, please see:www.ccfund.co.uk.55 City of Toronto Economic Development Division. 2006. Making the Link:Advancing Design as a Vehicle for Innovation and Economic Development.56 Interview with Ilse Treurnicht (MaRS CEO). March 2006. For more information,please see www.marsdd.com.

57 Correspondence with Tim Jones and Reid Henry (Artscape). March-June 2006.58 Interview with City of Toronto, Culture Division. September 2005.59 Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. 2005. Examples of Powers UnderProposed Legislation for Toronto. Backgrounder. [Available atwww.mah.gov.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_25869_1.html]60 Eligh, B. February, 2006. ‘Consultation Launches for Pilot Design ReviewPanel.’ Novae Res Urbis. 61 Charlton, M. February, 2006. Spaced Out: TAPA Helps Theatre Community Dealwith Loss of Space. Toronto Arts Coalition. 62 Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation website: www.towaterfront.ca.63 For detailed information on support bodies impacting the creative economy inToronto, please see the Strategies for Creative Cities Toronto Case Study. [Available atwww.utoronto.ca/progris/web_files/creativecities] 64 For more information on New York’s creative industries, please see Keegan, R.and Kleiman, N. 2005. Creative New York. New York: Center for an Urban Future.[Available at www.nycfuture.org/images_pdfs/pdfs/CREATIVE_NEW_YORK.pdf]65 Chan, S. April 5, 2006. ‘New York City is Establishing an Office to Support ArtsGroups.’ New York Times. 66 London Development Agency. 2004. Creative London: Vision and Plan.67 Please see Creative London website:www.creativelondon.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.009004002.68 See the following websites for more information on these projects: www.thecarlu.com, www.ocad.on.ca/about/campus/sharp_centre.htm.69 Adonis Huggins of Regent Park Focus is the first to be profiled.70 Manchester City Council. 2004. Manchester Appoints Creative Director. PressRelease [Available at www.manchester.gov.uk/news/2004/mar/create.htm] and correspondence with Susan Hunt (Manchester Marketing Co-ordination Unit).March 2006.

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