One-way Bridge to Rural and Urban Canada - Part 5

Rob Greenwood on municipalities and rural and regional development in Canada

Abstract: Much is written about the role of large urban centres and creative cities as the driving forces in an increasingly urbanized Canada. This presentation draws upon twenty years of comparative research around the North Atlantic Rim and across Canada, as well as experience working with community development organizations, governments and universities in trying to apply lessons. It also draws upon recent research on the Social Foundations of Innovation in City Regions and on the Governance of Rural-Urban Interaction. It suggests that stronger longer government, within a context of sub-provincial regional cooperation, is essential for successful rural and urban development in Canada. Whether the current distribution of powers in Canada, and the increasing urban bias of policy makers, will allow these lessons to be applied, is a very different matter!

Biography: Rob is the founding director of The Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development at Memorial University, is currently serving as Acting Director of Memorials International Centre and is cross-appointed with the Universitys Faculty of Business Administration. He has operated his own consulting business and has served as a Director and Assistant Deputy Minister of Policy in Economic Development departments in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Saskatchewan. In Saskatchewan, he led the development of the provincial economic strategy. In Newfoundland and Labrador, he was Director or Research, authoring the 1995 Report of the Newfoundland Task Force on Community Economic Development. Rob holds a Ph.D. in Industrial and Business Studies from the University of Warwick, England, which he attended as a Commonwealth Scholar and an Institute of Social and Economic Research Doctoral Fellow.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• Rural
• Centre;
• Health;
• Population
• Environmental
• Regional
• Development;
• creative
• cities