Sector connectors, specialists and scrappers: How cities use civic capital to compete in high-technology markets

Tijs Creutzberg, Darius Ornston and David A Wolfe
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Tijs Creutzberg: University of Toronto, Canada
Darius Ornston: University of Toronto, Canada
David A Wolfe: University of Toronto, Canada

Urban Studies, 2024, vol. 61, issue 3, 549-566

Abstract: This article uses three cities in the same Canadian province (Ontario): Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo, to examine how regions compete in high-technology markets. We find that regions use civic capital to leverage new, technological windows of opportunity, but they do so in very different ways. Tracing Toronto’s evolution from a marketing hub for foreign multinationals into a centre for entrepreneurship, we illustrate how weak ties and cross-sectoral buzz created a ‘super connector’, scaling high-technology firms in a wide variety of areas. In Ottawa, task-specific cooperation in R&D, education and specialised infrastructure enabled the region to overcome the disadvantages of its small size as a ‘specialist’ in a single, capital-intensive niche, telecommunications equipment. Finally, entrepreneurs in Waterloo eschewed task-specific cooperation for peer-to-peer mentoring. By diffusing generic knowledge about how to circumvent the liabilities of smallness, mentoring networks enabled this ‘scrapper’ city to support smaller start-ups in a broad range of niches.

Keywords: civic capital; governance; innovation; networks; regional development; 民间资本; æ²»ç †; 创新; 网络; åŒºåŸŸå ‘å±• (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:61:y:2024:i:3:p:549-566

DOI: 10.1177/00420980231186234

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