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Innovation and Sustainability in Cities

The Innovation Cities Top 100 list was recently released ranking the top 100 cities of the world as innovation destinations. Over 1,540 cities were analyzed based on health, wealth, occupation and geography and from this 289 were chosen and classified into five performance classes, including NEXUS, HUB, NODE, INFLUENCER, and UPSTART (for more on these see the Innovation Cities FAQ). Cities with a Nexus or Hub classification show innovation across many industrial and community areas and are thus considered innovative urban centres. The top three cities on the list are Boston, Paris and Amsterdam, all receiving the Nexus rating. Toronto came in as a Nexus at number 12. Other Canadian cities on the list, with a Hub rating, are: Montreal, Calgary, Quebec City, Vancouver and Edmonton coming in at 34, 71, 74, 75 & 95 respectively.

The results were also presented by region, including Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Emerging Countries (Mid-East, Africa and Caucasus states). Europe has the most cities with a Nexus score at 17 cities, followed by Asia with 7 and the Americas with 6. Overall, the collection of each type of city in different global regions was aggregated to produce overall shares of the global innovation economy. Europe accounted for 40% of the global innovation economy, the Americas accounted for 38%, and the Asia and Emerging regions accounted for 17% and 4% respectively.

Corporate Knights Magazine recently released the 2010 Most Sustainable Cities in Canada issue, which offers a similar evaluation of cities at the national level. The report notes sustainable communities can "flourish without contributing to the progressive degradation of the human and natural systems" on which they depend. Toronto also tops the list for big cities, while Vancouver tops medium cities and Yellowknife was the best of the small cities. Large and small cities both succeed because they focus on a variety of areas: Ecological Integrity, Economic Security, Governance and Empowerment, Infrastructure and Built Environment, and Social Well-Being.

What ties these rankings together is a broad consideration of the range of amenities that combine to make a place innovative, sustainable, or appealing. These high-ranking cities have in some ways found the necessary balance between liveability and opportunity, and as such represent models of communities that can excel in the new knowledge-based economy, and the global competition for talent and ideas.

TIGER, TIGER Burning (not so) Bright

The Financial Times' Tracking Indexes for Global Economic Recovery (TIGER) is a compilation of financial and economic tracking tools presented via an interactive online map providing data from the G-20 economies. The map essentially shows how changing economic activity, financial indicators and confidence measures are pointing to where the economy goes next. Alarmingly, the data for October suggests that financial markets are failing to support business with access to credit, that the termination of government economic stimulus packages in most countries is creating uncertainty about what happens next, and that most observers are less than optimistic about the timing of an economic recovery. A vicious circle of weak financial markets, poor job growth and US consumer uncertainty are the key drivers of these trends. Despite the bad news, TIGER itself is a solid tool for economic developers seeking insight into larger economic trends on an ongoing basis. The interactive map can be accessed here.

Creativity and Innovation: Making North-South Connections

A recent article in The Atlantic discussed the hosting of the second annual Maker Faire Africa, local African innovation, and the book by Steve Daniels, "Making Do: Innovation in Kenya's Informal Economy". Interestingly, the article discusses not only innovation in Africa's informal economy but creates connections with innovation in Western economies.

The Maker Faire Africa gathering is based on the Maker Faire movement in the United States, which believes in basic, universal tenets for innovation: accessibility to technology, individual control over the final product, and the open sharing of ideas. In Africa's informal economy, clustering has been a key ingredient to accessing technology and sharing ideas. While larger industries and businesses are seen as being discrete, vertically integrated, trans-national organisations, the informal economy is characterized by smaller enterprises functioning as suppliers and customers efficiently mobilized to share resources and ideas.

Often, individuals will begin with an apprenticeship and the buying and selling of scrap materials. However, this might evolve into acquiring higher levels of skill and developing value added products to sell to a broader network. Social capital, trust, and networking have resulted in innovative industries rising out of a challenging situation and career pathways for those with lower levels of education.

In North America, similar clustering examples can be found with industries sharing space, services, people, referrals, and ideas to effectively contribute to economic development and job creation on a local level. The efficiencies and innovations that arise from these clusters are a competitive advantage allowing smaller firms to compete in a world of larger, vertically integrated firms. While industry attraction efforts are one option in economic development circles, supporting and creating clusters of smaller, independent, and innovative firms is another alternative. In this case, development assistance may be turned on its head with the global North learning from the global South.

You can purchase "Making Do: Innovation in Kenya's Informal Economy" here (or read an online version for the cost of a tweet or a post on your Facebook wall).

The Next Economy: Economic Recovery and Transformation in the Great Lakes Region

In a region that was hit hard by the recent recession there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. It was not long ago that the Great Lakes region was being called the "Rust Belt" due to its declining economic health. A recent report by the Brookings Institution titled "The Next Economy: Economic Recovery and Transformation in the Great Lakes Region", however, recognizes the region's challenges and provides a roadmap to economic recovery and transformation powered by its metropolitan areas. The pathway into the next economy involves federal, state, and local stakeholders cooperating to leverage the region's strengths and sustainable assets. This report recognizes that these strengths are largely knowledge-based. They include:

Global Trade Networks - It was in this region that Henry Ford set the standard for major car manufacturers in his movable assembly line and integrated production. Capitalizing on the growth potential of knowledge exports, and harnessing the concentration of top universities and medical complexes is recommended.

Clean Energy/Low Carbon Capacity - While a large fuel-reliant economy exists, it is suggested that opportunity for this region is centered around capitalizing on the research capacity and manufacturing expertise in order to build a clean energy, low carbon economy.

Innovation Infrastructure - The region is home to 36% of American science and engineering degrees earned each year and 32 major public and private research universities. A global leader in advanced manufacturing and research and development, this region has industrial and institutional infrastructure necessary to power an innovation economy.

Opportunities - Education is at the stem of opportunities for this region and strong educational networks are abundant in the Great Lakes region. The region's workers are able to develop the skills and credentials they need to find jobs to support the region's industries.

While focused on the Great Lakes, this report recognizes that the region has significant resources essential to creating the next economy that could be applied to other urban and rural centers, so it's definitely worth a read.