Transcript Document
Urban Municipalities Providing Leadership in Regional
Economic Development: New Wine in Old Bottles? Old
Wine in New Bottles? Just Stop Whining and Do It?!
MNL Urban Summit, St. John’s, March 1-2, 2013
Rob Greenwood, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Harris Centre
Outline
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Strategy vs Structure
Moving forward
Your role?
Discussion
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Regional Development:
Strategy vs. Structure
Strategies:
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Infrastructure
Human resource development
Social Development / Healthy Communities
Investment attraction
Entrepreneurship / SMEs / Innovation
Creative Class / Place Making
Clusters / Learning Regions
Community/Regional Development: place
based; capacity building
Regional Development Strategies
• Place Making: an integrated approach –
driven from the local / regional (?) level
Identity, Civic Engagement, Public Space,
Amenities matter – a culture of planning?
your identity / narrative: “insulates you from
selling out”
“make a covenant with your place”
build on what you value; discover it; be true
to it: what do you want to hug?!
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Regional Development Strategies:
no “place” without economic drivers
• You’ll have nothing to hug if you don’t
have products or services to export
(except as cottage country)
• There are products and services that can
be successfully produced in our regions
• Labour market shortages = high
productivity is job one
• Functional regions enable pooling of
labour, business, markets, governance
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capacity
Regional Development:
Strategy vs. Structure
Structures:
• Federal and Provincial governments:
departments / agencies
• Municipal / County / Voluntary Regional
Collaboration
• Industry Associations / Cluster Organizations
• Community / Regional “Third Sector”
organizations
Organizational Structures for
Development:
Political Power vs. Political Will
Political Power
Federal
Provincial
Regional
Political Will
Denzil Doyle
Specialized Knowledge
vs. Local Knowledge
Specialized Knowledge
Federal
Provincial
Regional
Local Knowledge
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Check list of Organizational Capacity for
Regional Development
• Fiscal Resources
• Human Resources
• Leadership
• Skilled Staff
• Community Participation
• Legal Authority
• Local Democratic Accountability/Legitimacy
• Geographic Area
• Time
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Moving Forward
• Firms learn to manage transaction costs
what do you do by yourself?
what to you “buy” from others?
what do you partner on: strategic alliances,
consortia, long-term supply chain relationships?
• Are communities the same as firms?
“urban” municipalities don’t match functional regions
(can’t do everything in house)
you are partnering with neighbours now
are there opportunities being missed that new
partnering “tools” would help with?
esp. with changed landscape of gov’t. support 10
Charters? Accords? Covenants?
• Remember the Viking Trail Tourism Accord?
• Inter-municipal joints councils, coalitions, joint
service arrangements
MNL surveys of shared services: lots!
Fredericton
Alberta: Brooks & County of Newell; Palliser
Economic Partnership
• Formalized: BC Regional Districts; Quebec
MRCs (Municipal Regional Councils)
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Charters? Accords? Covenants?
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Confirm who is at the table
Clarify purpose; being deliberate
Establish operating principles
Not establishing a formal structure, but a
vehicle for collective action
• Driven by the members (not by fed./prov.
government(s); they may help facilitate;
sustainable without them)
• Build – more – trust
• Commit: sign your name, for your community,
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matters
Priority Matrix: start with achieveable
common needs
Impact
High
Low
Hard
Ease of Implementation
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Do you want to make history, while we
still can?
• The demographic reality is looming; we
have 15 years to work with
• We have major projects generating
opportunities
• We are rich in resources, that can be
managed sustainably
• We love this place
• If our urban municipalities don’t show
leadership, it’s not going to happen
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Can you do it?
Will you do it?
If not you, who?
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