London, Ontario
A Brief History
•1793 -Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe selects town site.
•London to be provincial capital.
•1826 – London is founded.
•Administrative seat of region due to geographic centrality.
•London’s origin lies in practical political considerations
•1840 – Incorporated as a town
•Establishing economic control over hinterland.
•1853 – First steam locomotive arrives  First economic boom.
•1855 - London becomes a city.
•1861 – U.S. Civil War  Second economic boom.
•Growth results from local economic dominance and increased distant trade.
A Brief History
Blackfriars Bridge, 1880
Blackfriars Bridge, 2008
A Brief History
A Brief History
A Brief History
•1793 -Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe selects town site.
•London to be provincial capital.
•1826 – London is founded.
•Administrative seat of region due to geographic centrality.
•London’s origin lies in practical political considerations
•1840 – Incorporated as a town
•Establishing economic control over hinterland.
•1853 – First steam locomotive arrives  First economic boom.
•1855 - London becomes a city.
•1861 – U.S. Civil War  Second economic boom.
•Growth results from local economic dominance and increased distant trade.
A Brief History
• 19th Century: London Grows More Diverse
• Financial services and education expands
• Early – Mid 20th Century: Manufacturing and Processing sector
develops
• London enters 21st C with a diverse economy.
A Brief History
A Brief History
A Brief History
• 19th Century: London Grows More Diverse
• Financial services and education expands
• Early – Mid 20th Century: Manufacturing and Processing sector
develops
• London enters 21st C with a diverse economy.
A Brief History
London Today
• Regional hub centered between Detroit and Toronto
• Population: 352, 395
• CMA population: 492, 000
• Tenth largest Canadian urban center
• Labour force: 268, 100
• Manufacturing: 29, 100
• Automotive: 15, 800
• Life Sciences: 18, 000
• IT: 5, 000
• Full-time students: 45, 000
•18
A Shift in Focus
• Steady decline in the manufacturing sector
• A 30.2% drop in the London Economic Region since 2006
• Investment in research institutions by corporations leading to
diversification
• Example - 3M Clinic – partnership between 3M Canada, UWO,
London Health Sciences
• A transition in emphasis from the goods-producing sector to the
services-providing sector
Employment Patterns
Employment Patterns
Reworking the City
• Creative City Taskforce – 2004
• City of London Strategic Plan – 2011
• “…our economy is the engine of our community”
• Creative Network of Canada’s Creative City Summit – 2011
A Vibrant Mid-Size City
Corporate Landmarks
Practical Considerations
• A Canadian, English-speaking city
• Official documents and publications
• Non-official documents
• The ‘chattering classes’
• Media
• Familiar political system
• Understanding origins, development of programs and policy
decisions
Academic Interests
• Diversity – Immigration
• Urban Theory – Mid-sized regions
• Suburban Human Capital
Diversity - Immigration
• Importance of diversity in a Creative Economy
• London experiencing a decline in number of immigrant arrivals
since 2001
• Overall numbers feeble compared to the Big 3
• How will this effect the trajectory of London’s development and
pursuit of becoming a creative city?
• What policy directions and projects will London undertake to
facilitate successful immigration?
Urban Theory – Mid Sized Regions
• Widening disparity in the Canadian Urban System – Bourne,
2004
• Smaller cities experiencing population and economic decline
• Heterogeneity vs. homogeneity of cities
• Loss of the 3 Ts?
• How will London pursue the dream of attaining a Creative
Economy?
Suburban Human Capital
•
London trying to emulate principles found in Toronto’s Culture
Plan (2003), heavily influenced by Creative City principles
•
Scaling down strategies of larger economies – a good idea
for smaller regions?
•
Differences in the relationship between human capital and
cities of differing sizes, densities
•
Can superimposing big-city strategies on to faltering smaller
regions be a feasible long-term plan?
YOUR City Selection Process
A little bit about how you chose your city – did you choose based on
popularity? Size? Familiarity?
What is your city’s current economic condition? Do you think it will
be easier to study a declining region or a rapidly growing one?
Does your city exhibit characteristics of a Creative City? What do
you think is missing from your city?