Remarks at The Toronto Forum for Global Cities
8:30 a.m. Monday, October 24, 2011
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, South Building, Rm 716
Dr. Anne Golden, C.M.
President and Chief Executive Officer,
The Conference Board of Canada
I was very pleased to be asked to say a few words of welcome to this annual conference, The Toronto Forum for Global Cities. It has become a landmark event, able to attract renowned speakers and I see that you have done so again this year. The agenda is ambitious in breadth and depth and, as one who has had a lot of experiences with conferences, I would like to congratulate the organizers on having both an agenda and speakers that nail down the issues that matter.
It’s hard to believe that in 1950 less than 30% of the world’s population lived in cities. Now, the world’s urban population is the majority for the first time in human history. So it is fair to say that the fate of humanity is inextricably linked with the fate of cities.
I have spent more than four decades thinking, learning and writing about cities.
Throughout my career, I have maintained a focus on urban issues through a variety of lenses – from a social policy lens at United Way of Greater Toronto to an economic and global lens at The Conference Board of Canada (research on municipal fiscal imbalance, the urban infrastructure gap, lagging productivity, innovation, and the role of Canada’s major or hub cities in driving economic growth, and our municipal benchmarking reports).
Through all of the research that I’ve been engaged in or benefitted from throughout my career, there is a remarkable continuity of ideas:
- That in a knowledge-based economy, cities and city-regions are the drivers of national and global prosperity.
- That human capital, rather than physical capital, is the primary economic driver. We must reimagine our cities as magnets of talent (if they come, they will build it). And,
- Proximity matters – cities make frequent interaction affordable in cost and time. Proximity speeds innovation by connecting smart and creative people. Most innovation occurs in cities.
I thought what might be helpful to this audience, given your agenda and my ten minute time allotment, is to and describe a template that I have developed that helps me to assess and analyze the plethora of challenges and opportunities facing Canada’s cities.
Cornerstones of Competitive Cities (Mission Possible)
Four building blocks constitute the cornerstones of a strong foundation for successful city-regions and cities in today’s competitive global economy:
1. a strong knowledge economy;
2. connective physical infrastructure linking people, goods and ideas;
3. environmentally sound growth; and
4. socially cohesive communities.
A few comments about each.
I. A strong knowledge economy
Growing attention is being given to the idea that universities, with their advanced research capacities, and community colleges have a big role to play in a city’s success. They are important magnets of talent and investment. This capacity to attract talent and investment make them central to the development of clusters (dense agglomerations of companies/institutions in a common sector), which drive innovation and productivity growth.
II. Connective physical infrastructure linking people, goods and ideas
No modern city can thrive without an efficient urban transportation system that moves people and goods safely, while minimizing environmental consequences. This is an area where Canada is failing. A recent OECD report estimates that traffic congestion costs the GTA some $2.7 billion.
At the Conference Board, we just did a study for Metrolinx showing that urban transportation makes it easier to match workers and jobs, promotes employment density, and enhances productivity and prosperity. Typically, these broader impacts are not explored in investment decisions.
Your second session is aptly titled “The Transportation Infrastructure Emergency”. Transportation infrastructure has suffered from such a long period of public disinvestment that it is hard to see how we can catch up. Before 1977, new investment in infrastructure kept pace with Canada’s growing population and it grew by close to 5% annually. Between 1978 and 2000, however, – and this is a shocking number – new investment in urban infrastructure grew on average by a miniscule 0.1% per year! Little wonder that we are behind the 8-ball.
Unfortunately, this topic attracts only sporadic attention like when a highway overpass in Montreal collapses. Canada’s cities face a staggering infrastructure deficit, which FCM estimates at more than $123 billion (2007). Almost half of this is transportation-related. Decades of infrastructure neglect and poor design of our cities, with suburban expansion exacerbating the gap, have come home to roost.
III. Environmentally sound growth
One of the facts that has stayed with me, even five years after we published our Canada Project report on successful cities (2007), is this: cities use only two per cent of the world’s land but account for roughly 78 per cent of the carbon emissions from human activities. Per capita, the carbon footprint of city dwellers is actually much lower than that of their country cousins, but urban activities have environmental consequences that can cause damage (e.g., air and water pollution, landfill sites, climate change, etc.).
While your sessions focus on energy challenges from a macro perspective, there are things we can do at the municipal level. The solutions here are known. First and foremost, we must integrate land use and transportation planning at the local and regional levels, aiming to accommodate growth through intensification rather than low density sprawl.
We can also use the principles of ecology to create what they technically call “closed-looped systems” (where waste products become inputs for new processes). The idea of clustering is usually associated with economic benefits and more efficient land use, but eco-industrial parks are communities of businesses that share all resources, including those that improve the environment.
The good news is that Canadian cities are starting to get interested in this. Several Canadian cities have set goals to become eco-communities. There are inspiring international examples to draw on – Sweden and Norway come to mind.
IV. Socially cohesive communities
A strong social fabric is, I believe, an essential component of economic prosperity. Although there is no actual proof that cities’ rates of income inequality, trust or crime affect their economic wellbeing, I believe we must include it as a cornerstone.
The Conference Board recently released data showing that the gap between the rich and the poor in Canada has widened over the past two decades. The bulk of the new wealth being created in Canada is accruing to the top 20 per cent – much of it to the top one per cent! This is worrisome: it both raises a moral question about fairness and can increase social tensions, making a city less attractive to the talented immigrants we need. Moreover, the rich/poor gap is increasingly reflected geographically in our cities – especially here in Toronto where the number of middle-income neighbourhoods is shrinking.
We, in Canada, are not immune from the “Occupy Wall Street” protest movement – accurately described by The Globe and Mail as “a post-bailout backlash at a recovery that seemed to restore wealth to the few and leave many behind.” Whether or not we agree with the demonstrators’ tactics, and regardless of their lack of an agenda, the message cannot be ignored.
Enabling Conditions
How do these four cornerstones of successful cities fit together to ensure that Canada’s cities achieve their potential? Three enabling conditions are essential: effective governance, sufficient money, and good leadership.
Effective Governance
There is no ideal model of metropolitan governance. We have experimented with various approaches across Canada with both more and less success.
The most exciting development in urban governance is occurring outside of government per se – in some cities, like Toronto and Calgary – business leaders are stepping up and engaging with the voluntary sector on a range of issues. CivicAction (formerly the Toronto City Summit Alliance) has galvanized leaders from all sectors to act on problems like immigrant employment, income security, diversity, etc.
Sufficient fiscal resources
Our municipal governments face rising costs and/or dwindling resources.
For decades now, the rate of growth of municipal revenues has been much lower than that enjoyed by other levels of government. In 2004, the federal government introduced its New Deal for cities and communities which stemmed years of declining federal transfers. It committed to rebate part of the GST to municipal governments and, in 2005, agreed to share fuel tax revenue – a commitment recently renewed by Prime Minister Harper. However, the fiscal imbalance has not been solved.
Good Leadership
Even if you had an effective system of governance and sufficient fiscal resources, leadership would be the transformative ingredient.
Why are we ignoring the accumulated wisdom?
In his recently published book, Triumph of the City, Edward Glaeser asks “Why do so many smart people enact so many foolish urban policies?” A good question. By “foolish”, Glaeser means urban sprawl. I would add: neglect of infrastructure; the failure to integrate land use and transportation planning; keeping municipalities in fiscal straightjackets; and ignoring environmental consequences. I could go on, as I’m sure we all could. Many of these issues are on your conference agenda.
As to what the future holds, I have taken the advice of Yogi Berra who said, “It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” I do believe that we determine our future, it doesn’t just happen to us. That’s why events like this are important to share experiences and ideas for solutions.
Thank you.