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Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts  Volume 4, Issue 1 
http://artivate.org  pp. 25-48 
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Copyright © 2015, the author      
 
 

CREATIVE TORONTO: HARNESSING THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POWER 
OF ARTS & CULTURE 
Shoshanah B.D. Goldberg-Miller, The Ohio State University 

 
Abstract 

 Over the 2000s, Toronto initiated and instituted a process of cultivating itself as a 
creative city. Entrepreneurial city visionaries found that in order to enter the global market, their 
planning had to be strategic. This paper explores how Toronto’s policy entrepreneurs used 
planning, partnerships, and an expanded definition of economic development to create a 
“Cultural Camelot.” In addition to competing on the financial and revenue-generating fronts, a 
coalition of cross-sector leaders took on the challenge of fostering a livable city with a deep 
social ethos imbued within a variety of dimensions of urban life. This new focus gave Toronto 
the chance establish itself as a center for innovation, which strengthened urban cultural capital 
and helped promote the strategic agenda of becoming a competitor in the creative economy 
sector. Investment in research and creative city strategic planning, coupled with the allocation of 
financial and human capital resources across a variety of industries, served to encourage 
creativity, promote culture and competitiveness, and drive economic development.  
 

Creative Toronto: Harnessing the power of arts & culture 
 The decade of the 2000s in Toronto was one in which there was a ‘Creative Cities 
Coalescence,’ wherein cultural policy, economic development, and state and private support 
came together in a window of opportunity and played highly visible roles (See Figure 1). The 
ability of Toronto’s policy entrepreneurs to attach solutions to key problems, within both the 
cultural community and the municipal framework, resulted in a very visible outcome in that 
decade. Stakeholders, including urban planners, policymakers, elected officials and the cultural 
community, put forward an agenda based on a variety of planning documents with the goal of 
branding Toronto as a creative destination and cultural powerhouse. Through the lens of policy 
theory, this paper looks at the factors that coalesced to bring this goal to fruition, including the 
identification of an opportunity, political will, timing, and the creation of powerful alliances. 

 
Figure 1. Toronto’s Creative Cities Coalescence (Goldberg, 2012) 
 
  I examine the role of stakeholder partnerships in the municipal effort to develop Toronto 



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into a globally recognized creative center during the decade of the 2000s, and I ask the following 
questions: In what ways did Toronto’s policy entrepreneurs advocating for arts and culture play a 
key role in reimagining a creative city? Was cultural policy tied to the ways that arts and culture 
gained a role on Toronto’s municipal agenda in the economic development toolkit in the 2000s? 
What can we learn from Toronto’s cultural collaborations over the decade?  
 In order to develop an understanding of what transpired in that decade, I developed a case 
study of the city using a conceptual framework that looks at six main components: what arts and 
culture mean; how it is manifest; leadership and stakeholder partnerships; cultural policy in the 
municipality; economic development using arts and culture; and the integration of these two 
facets in the city’s strategies. Within the public and urban policy framework, there are three main 
phases within the policy process: agenda setting, implementation, and evaluation. Here I focus 
on agenda setting, and look at the ways that policy entrepreneurs or advocates were able to gain 
access to the municipal agenda using the arts and culture context. This is useful in understanding 
how proponents of arts and culture interventions can coalesce their messages, leverage 
stakeholder partnerships, and gain access to key policymakers and municipal actors in order to 
realize their goals and affect policy change. 
 I utilize a powerful policy theory called Agenda Setting Theory, which lies within the 
larger Multiple Streams Framework, as a tool with which to examine what took place in Toronto 
in the 2000s. This theory serves as a way to analyze the ways that a group of actors, including 
those in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, were able to leverage arts and culture on the 
economic development agenda with the goal of transforming Toronto into an internationally 
renowned creative city during that decade. While there are numerous policy theories that could 
be utilized in an investigation such as this, I employ Agenda Setting Theory as it helps to 
understand how arts and culture became an option on the economic development agenda in 
Toronto and allows me to look at ways that policy entrepreneurs coalesced their creative city 
message in order to do so. 
 In this investigation, I focus on the municipal level, and center upon the process through 
which city actors in Toronto during the 2000s were able to build stakeholder partnerships and put 
forward polices within the cultural context in order to create a cultural renaissance. I examine the 
way that these stakeholders focused scarce attention -- both by decision makers and the polis -- 
on their solutions. Actors in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors coalesced to implement a 
strategic plan carefully designed by the municipality. This was a case of entrepreneurial cultural 
stakeholders who utilized their agenda for community building (Jackson et al, 2003).  
 This kind of cultural partnership took place during an opening in the political system after 
Toronto’s amalgamation with outlying municipalities in the late 1990s.  
Sabatier and Weible (2007, p. 194) emphasize that during an open policy window the goals and 
aspirations of municipal actors can be changed and new benchmarks can be set for success. 
Toronto exemplified this, as core beliefs about the city’s ability to participate in the global 
knowledge economy altered and resources became available through the platform of the cultural 
renaissance. Contributions of financial resources and intellectual property were made in 
unprecedented quantities, and stakeholders in these domains took on exceptional leadership 
functions in the city's physical and social being.  

The process began with leading cultural organizations’ recognition of their problems, 
including aging infrastructure and decreased demand. This was coupled with the municipality's 
merging of cultural policy and economic development functions, in addition to the production of 
cultural planning documents (See Table 1). The creation of these cultural plans and their 



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subsequent updates provided an opportunity for the city to engage with a number of stakeholders 
including cultural producers, arts organizations, and creative economy businesses, thus providing 
a way to gain buy-in from these actors. These factors, as well as the city's interest in and desire to 
enter the global marketplace through the knowledge economy, together with the fact that creative 
cities scholar Richard Florida made Toronto his home brought media attention and worldwide 
interest to the creative sectors in Toronto. Federal and provincial funding gave the cultural 
renaissance the imprimatur of the state, and this led the way for the private sector to follow suit.  

 
 Plans for City of Toronto  
Creative City Plans for Culture For City of Toronto 
Name of Plan Date Description 
The Creative City: 
A Workprint 

2001 • A preview of the Culture Plan (2003) lays out the framework 
for creative innovation 

Culture Plan for the 
Creative City 

2003 • 10 year action plan to guide city’s cultural development 
• Impact is tied to larger socioeconomic and environmental 
agendas for the city 
• Emphasizes the use of arts, culture and heritage assets to 
contribute to the molding and marketing of Toronto as a global 
cultural capital 
• Calls for increased investment in arts and culture but also 
urban marketing specifically to increase spending from $9.3 
million on tourism marketing to levels on par with Montreal and 
Toronto 
• Makes several socially conscious recommendations as well: 
remain welcoming to newcomers and to focus on cultural 
diversity as a means of advocacy and strategies to engage youth 
• Also included are recommendations for managing the city’s 
portfolio of cultural facilities through partnerships and 
restoration funding 

Culture Plan 
Progress Report: 
2005 

2005 • Assessment of the Culture Plan, identifies any gaps that may 
have emerged since 2003 
Successes include: 
• Per Capita spending increased 
• Increased allocations to Toronto Arts Council 
• Build grants 

Culture Plan 
Progress Report: 
2008 

2008 • Half-way point review of 10yr action plan 
• Summarizes the work that has already been done and reaffirms 
the need to harness momentum from these achievements to 
move Toronto into the next phase 

Creative City 
Framework 

2008 • Creative companion plan to the Agenda for Prosperity 
• Reiterates the points made in the progress report 

Creative Capital 
Initiative 

2011 • Update of the 2003 Culture Plan 
• Launched in Jan 2011 
• Overseen by the City Council’s Economic Development 
Committee 



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Economic Development Plans for City of Toronto 
Name of Plan Date Description 
Economic 
Development 
Strategy 

2000 • 5yr action plan to guide economic development 
• Emphasizes competition and the new position of Toronto in 
the global market 
• Identifies arts and culture as the standout industry within the 
city that sets it apart and has the ability to drive, activate, inspire 
ideas and innovations across the spectrum of sectors 
• Think differently about competitiveness 
• People power the knowledge economy 
• Quality of place attracts people and investment 
• Establish a vital cycle of economic growth: strong economic 
foundations, competitive export clusters, and vibrant local 
businesses 
• Tell ourselves and the world what a really great city Toronto is 
• Mobilize existing resources through partnerships 

Agenda for 
Prosperity 
Four Pillars of 
Prosperity 
• Proactive Toronto: 
Business Climate 
• Global Toronto: 
Internationalization 
• Creative Toronto: 
Productivity and 
Growth 
• One Toronto: 
Economic 
Opportunity and 
Inclusion 

2008 • New plan for economic competitiveness and growth 
• Creativity is at the heart of economic competitiveness 
• Connect creative industries, districts or hubs to creative 
economy to strengthen creative city 
• Focus on internationalization of business climate, productivity 
and growth, and economic opportunity and inclusion 
• Strategy for international event attraction 

Table 1. Plans for City of Toronto 
 
This paper examines a decade in Toronto’s development and provides lessons for cities in 

utilizing arts and culture in economic development, with the caveat that urban centers must 
develop interventions tailored specifically to their own political and economic environments. 
Stakeholder partners and policy entrepreneurs need to be mindful of threats to policy objectives 
caused by economic and political factors. Shifts in policy actors may alter the ways that the 
public and elected officials view arts and culture strategies and their role in economic 
development opportunities. These interventions exist in an ever-changing political, public, and 
economic landscape, as endogenous and exogenous shocks necessitate responses and may delay, 
modify, or postpone creative city goals.  

 
Methodology 

 I conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews of twenty-one individuals in Toronto and 
performed comprehensive archival and historical research. The archival and historical research 



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took place between October 2010 and May 2011 and involved the collection and analysis of 
books, scholarly articles, municipal policy documents, reports, government documents, news 
articles, and commissioned research studies. These sources were used to develop a picture of the 
decade of the 2000s in Toronto regarding a number of dimensions, in addition to the specific 
areas related to cultural policy and economic development functions. The validity of the archival 
data was ensured through my comparison of source materials, as well as the selection of data 
from a variety of well-regarded sources such as the federal government, the province, and city 
and nongovernmental agencies. Data secured through archival and historical materials were 
subsequently integrated with those gleaned from the elite interview process. 

An essential resource for this study was the epistemic community of economic 
development directors, urban cultural planners, artists, policymakers, and cultural managers in 
Toronto. Elite interviews conducted for this investigation were drawn from a pool of individuals 
within a clearly defined framework. Respondents selected came from categories that included 
two main characteristics: those individuals who worked for the state either as elected officials, 
appointees, or city workers; and those outside of the government. Within the category of state 
actors were the following: elected officials, appointed officials, those who worked for the 
province of Ontario, and those that worked for the City of Toronto. Outside of the political arena 
I developed several clearly defined categories from which to draw respondents. These included: 
artist/architect; real estate developer; museum manager or administrator; academic or think tank 
director; film and television production manager; film/cultural festival manager; philanthropist; 
corporate funder; and arts service organization executive. In order to secure elite interviewees for 
this investigation, I used the snowball sampling technique. The interviews took place between 
December 2010 and March 2011 and ranged in length from forty minutes to two hours, with the 
majority in the one-hour range. Additionally, during the course of this research a number of 
informal interviews were held in each city with academics, nonprofit managers, government arts 
executives, and other cultural stakeholders.  

The historical and archival materials were integrated with the interview data in order to 
glean an understanding of the role of cultural policy on the arts and culture interventions in 
Toronto’s municipality in the decade under study. Utilizing the conceptual framework 
developed, I analyzed the key influences that contributed to the development of a creative city 
initiative. I examined the context that led to an opening in the policy window in Toronto early in 
the 2000s, and incorporated the thoughts and opinions of the respondents to form a picture of the 
factors leading to the presence of an arts and culture strategy on the city’s municipal economic 
development agenda. Through the study of what led to Toronto’s transformation via the cultural 
renaissance, I developed key concepts, which I consolidated into a series of policy 
recommendations designed to provide a reflective roadmap for cities utilizing arts and culture 
strategies. 

 
Agenda Setting: A theoretical framework 

Agenda setting lies within the larger policy framework called Multiple Streams (MS), 
which seeks to understand how policies are made (Kingdon, 1995). One of the most often cited 
policy theories, MS finds its focus through the examination of agenda setting and decision 
making, often at the highest levels of government. MS separates issues into three streams: 
problem, policy, and politics. It is only when the three streams are joined that what is known as a 
‘window of opportunity’ occurs. Importantly, it is when the three are harmonized that any policy 
ideas have the best chance for adoption. This point of convergence fosters the environment in 



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which policy change can happen (Sabatier, 2007). Since Multiple Streams speaks to many of the 
key issues within the agenda setting agenda function of economic development, in addition to the 
cultural policy realities of the decade in Toronto, I grounded this inquiry within this robust 
framework. 

Multiple Streams framework points to the role of policy entrepreneurs as facilitators of 
change, especially during times where a policy window may be open and opportunities for the 
adoption of their ideas present themselves. The ideas of policy entrepreneurs focus on the 
provision of solutions to specific policy problems within a variety of areas. This theory suggests 
that these advocates play a crucial role within institutional settings, often serving as the bridge 
between the community and the policymakers. Understanding that the attention of both the 
public and policymakers is often limited and is bombarded by a variety of special interests, 
policy entrepreneurs work to coalesce messages in order to focus awareness on their policy 
solution (Kingdon, 2011, p. 183). This process takes place in steps and is often most active 
during times of uncertainty and under extreme conditions. In the economic development context, 
policy entrepreneurs in the arts and culture field may present their ideas during open policy 
windows precipitated by great change, such as the endogenous shock that took place during the 
amalgamation of Toronto with surrounding municipalities in the late 1990s, resulting in the 
formulation of what became the City of Toronto.  

Toronto’s challenge in the early 2000s was that after it became an amalgamated entity, 
there was interest within this newly formed city government in entering the knowledge economy. 
The knowledge economy is understood to be inputs to the economy based upon activities and 
industries that are knowledge-based rather than those that utilize physical inputs or natural 
resources. A subset of this emerging sector is the creative economy, which is based on the 
conceptualization of ideas and ability to harness them for innovation in refurbishing existing 
practices or creating new offerings. Through a focus on research and strategic planning, the 
creative economy was identified as a pathway toward the attainment of this goal. This, coupled 
with advocacy for capital improvements by leadership in Toronto’s anchor cultural institutions, 
set up the framework for the inclusion of creative city options on the economic development 
agenda. 

Within the context of public policy, agenda setting plays a variety of roles. On a federal 
level it involves a wide range of policy issues. These often are constrained by the numerous and 
conflicting issues competing for attention of both the public and policymakers (Kingdon, 1995). 
The priorities of the polis and legislators regarding policy issues can compete with one another. 
Often, special interest groups dominate legislative attention; however, public opinion plays an 
important role in the agenda setting function. The attention of elected officials does not move 
against the public attention, and lawmaking does take into consideration public opinion. 
Nationally, the public focuses on a few issues while lawmakers are involved with a variety of 
issues. The actions of policymakers often are circumscribed by the size and constraints of 
political institutions. Public representatives, special interest groups, and policy entrepreneurs can 
all sway the attention of elected officials (Jones & Baumgartner, 2004).  

Studies have shown a strong connection between public opinion with regards to what 
should be on a political agenda and the role of the media in influencing this opinion (McCombs 
& Shaw, 1972). The media can take punch lines and messages introduced by policymakers and 
policy entrepreneurs and amplify them through multiple channels. Understanding this, politicians 
and policymakers seek to use targeted messaging to converge public priority with their own 
interests. These messages can be communicated through speeches, written materials, and media 



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interviews. The creation of policy images is important in putting forward initiatives or changes to 
the ways that the polis views ideas or groups (True et al, 2007). The process of effecting change 
incorporates translating an idea into an effective image, story or slogan.  

Policy entrepreneurs work to distill messaging into palatable “punch lines” in order to 
gain public attention and buy-in for their proposals. This provides an opportunity for certain 
target populations to capture the aspirations of policy networks and translate these messages into 
images that serve to catalyze public opinion (Ingram et al, 2007, p. 100). These images originate 
in ideas that then are expressed in shorter, media-ready messages. In effect, there can be a kind 
of battle for the awareness and interest of the polis that takes place through media outlets. 
However, positive media attention and strong public support do not always ensure that an issue 
will make it to the agenda on the federal level. Agenda setting is important because it dictates 
what is decided, and who makes that decision, regarding policy issues that take priority (Silver et 
al, 2002). Echoing the characteristics of national policy agendas, the public within cities is often 
focused on a limited number of issues. Technical experts, as well as the community, seek to exert 
influence on legislators in order to gain a place on the agenda. When an issue and the policy 
entrepreneur who represents that issue wish to gain access and attention on an invisible 
policymaking agenda, implementation of a bottom up approach involving the community often is 
the most effective strategy (John, 2003).  

Through the process of deciding on the goal and the implementation of backward 
mapping, or realizing the necessary steps to achieve that goal, a strategic plan for a policy 
intervention can be formulated (Weimer & Vining, 2005, p. 283). Top down methodology has 
proven to be ineffective in garnering the public support and acceptance of policy options. While 
actors on the national policy stage have numerous issues at hand and many competing agenda 
issues, policy entrepreneurs on the municipal level need to be more focused and must garner 
support within a smaller and more tightly focused field. In order to foster trust between 
policymakers and the community, local stakeholders increasingly are involved in decision-
making and agenda setting, thereby seeking to promote “buy in” among effected parties (Silver 
et al, 2002). Although involvement in the agenda setting stage of policymaking does not ensure 
adoption of an issue into policy itself, it is a critically important stage that’s value cannot be 
underestimated (Hays & Glick, 1997). 

Agenda setting in municipalities involves numerous stakeholders and a plethora of issues. 
Housing, transportation, the environment, the economy, and jobs creation and retention are 
among the topics that compete for the attention of elected officials and the public. City planners 
and elected officials often seek ways to create revenue streams and rebuild their city centers as 
magnets for leisure and work activities. The economic development toolkit in cities has 
numerous interventions designed to address these issues. Understanding why arts and culture 
have gained a place within the toolkit in municipal economic development and urban planning is 
important because, at this time, cities are looking for ways to expand tourism, build stronger tax 
bases, and develop their brand locally as well as globally.  
Economic Development Incorporating Arts and Culture 

Often heralded as a possible panacea for a variety of ills that may affect a city, the 
cultural community and its offerings have been touted as a solution to a wide range of problems. 
How can arts and culture become a part of the economic development agenda and be a valuable 
tool in the toolkit? Traditionally, municipal economic development efforts and strategies have 
centered upon a variety of methods of encouraging businesses relocation to, as well as 



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investment in a city (Grodach, 2011). Among these are assistance with developers’ projects, tax 
abatements, and write-downs on land.  

There are several ways that urban economic development plays a role as far as the 
creative community is concerned, including drawing visitors and locals to a place-specific 
location in order to experience the culture, attracting new residents, businesses, and developers to 
a city, and fostering the production of cultural products or services that may be consumed locally 
and or elsewhere. Many industries that are screen-based have outputs that are exported nationally 
and internationally as a part of a city’s economic development strategy (Liu et al, 2010).  In the 
case of consumption at the point of production in cities, this includes cultural districts, live music 
and theater, theme or heritage areas, and festivals. Exported cultural goods range from traveling 
performances to graphic and industrial design products, fashion, publishing and screen-based 
production that is sold and distributed worldwide. The global marketplace for cultural goods is 
expanding as barriers to distribution are removed and marketing efforts become increasingly 
sophisticated. Scott (2000, p. 13) discusses both the pressures on labor markets and the 
opportunities available for the cultural industries as a result of globalization. This means that 
cultural producers need not limit their scope to the local level, since both goods and services are 
able to be sold in a much more efficient way.  
 All of these kinds of cultural goods and services can be beneficial economically to the 
city of origin, where oftentimes other businesses grow to support and enhance the arts producers 
and their consumers, creating a multiplier effect. Public-private partnerships can serve as the 
keystone of this urban economic development. In concert with local government, neighborhoods 
in major urban centers have been resuscitated to become flourishing centers of art, commerce, 
and entertainment. Urban areas can incorporate cultural planning into their marketing campaigns 
and utilize the creative city model to rebuild decrepit areas (Grodach & Loukaitou-Sideris, 
2007).  
 One caveat to Toronto’s success has been the often displaced and disillusioned residents 
who have watched their neighborhoods disappear and be replaced by prohibitively expensive 
housing and other high-priced amenities (Scott, 2004). Depending on culture to spur urban 
development, especially in badly deteriorated areas, could be a mistake. These efforts often 
include inherent dangers, such as misguided metrics regarding measurement of the effects of 
cultural economic development (Markusen and Schrock, 2006). Cultural entities designed to 
draw visitors to an urban center often can isolate that city’s less affluent residents, and deny them 
the chance to participate in the arts (Eisinger, 2000).  
 Urban areas and their planning professionals have embraced the creative community, using 
cultural solutions to revitalize decrepit areas, repurpose landmark buildings, and draw residents 
and visitors (Markusen, 2006). A variety of disciplines have the opportunity to form alliances to 
address the creative cities conversation. This includes entrepreneurial stakeholders from the 
worlds of cultural policy, urban planning, and economic development, each of whom often bring 
very different goals, strategies, and metrics to the table when implementing ideas about cultural 
city creation.  
 

City of Toronto: Case study 
The City of Toronto was created as a united entity on the first of January 1998. As such, 

it consisted of the merger of what had been the regional municipality called Metropolitan 
Toronto, which consisted of the cities of Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke, North York, York, 
and the borough of East York (Gertler et al, 2006). This amalgamation brought together 2.5 



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million people in a new entity called the City of Toronto. A challenge lay ahead for this 
emergent city – that of creating a shared vision and strategic plan. In light of growing 
international opportunities for economic growth, city leaders took on this task in a 
comprehensive way and began to plan for a shared future. The keystone of this planning 
incorporated the opportunities available in the rapidly growing sector known as the “knowledge 
economy”. 

After the 1998 consolidation of the federated boroughs that comprised the previous 
municipality of Toronto, the new city embarked on a process to create strategic plans in order to 
enhance its competitive power within the context of a global marketplace. Municipal actors 
determined that there was opportunity in the newly developing realm called the knowledge 
economy, and the City of Toronto seized the chance to participate in all that this emerging sector 
had to offer. The decade of the 2000s afforded Toronto the possibility of being a player on the 
world stage, and the creative community served as a key element in the process of tactical urban 
development. One of the defining aspects during this decade in Toronto was the creation and 
implementation of a common vision for the city and its residents. The cultural sector played a 
critical role and served as a vital part of this strategy. In addition to the employment aspects of 
the knowledge economy, the city focused upon campaigns that drew attention to heritage and 
culture. In order to brand Toronto as a creative city, several initiatives were put into place 
including the creation of a ten-year cultural blueprint. Now one of the largest economies in 
Canada, Toronto has seen a dynamic level of growth and development over the past ten years. 

Biotechnology, the information systems field, and other technology-based industries are a 
part of this framework, which focuses on the value and productivity of intellectual assets (Powell 
& Snellman, 2004). The knowledge economy also incorporates a wide range of creative 
industries, including cultural producers in nonprofit and for-profit industries, and integrates the 
concept of using creativity to shape production. A variety of professions are categorized within 
this context, such as architecture, design, the performing and fine arts, writing and journalism, 
photography, filmmaking, interior design, crafts, and television production (Statistics Canada, 
2006). Rather than focusing on manufacturing, Toronto set its sights on the knowledge economy 
and chose to compete through developing and fostering the resources of creativity and 
knowledge, as well as taking into consideration issues inherent in attracting and retaining these 
kinds of workers. In addition to aspects of the knowledge economy such as technology, energy, 
and biotech, Toronto targeted the creative economy as a part of the more expansive sector 
delineation. 
Just after the amalgamation process took place, a new Official Plan was developed that would 
serve the joined entities. Developed using each municipality’s former planning document, the 
vision looked at the next 30 years of growth in Toronto. The document recognized that the city 
would have to think about development in a new way, and focus not on expansion of sites but on 
new ways to look at areas that already were urbanized (City of Toronto, 2002). This plan put 
forward the concept of the New Toronto as one where residents and visitors would feel safe, and 
for which Torontonians would feel a strong sense of pride. Inclusiveness was a key element of 
the plan, as well as the recognition of Toronto’s extremely multicultural residential makeup. 
Benefits within the plan included not only economic development and financial growth, but 
sensitivity to environmental, social, and quality of life issues as well. 

A recurrent theme in the plans was competition, which included initiatives within the 
City of Toronto and strategies for the city to compete in Canada, North America, and globally. 
For the city to be a worldwide player, it needed to be able to attract workers, foster capital 



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investment, and provide attractive jobs (City of Toronto, 2000). Being competitive meant 
focusing on intellectual capital, financing, infrastructure, and providing an attractive business 
environment. This economic development strategy also took into account ways to compete 
through quality of life, networking, and unity of vision. This set the stage for a kind of 
competitiveness that incorporated economic development goals and social concerns, with the 
vision of fostering the kind of city that would draw and retain businesses and residents and 
provide a culturally thriving city of which everyone could be proud. 

A key concept regarding the thinking to which Toronto turned in crafting this new vision 
was the creative cities rhetoric circulating in the urban planning and economic development 
discourse. The idea of the power of a creative class, consisting of for-profit and nonprofit 
entities, which included a variety of workers who both produced cultural goods and services and 
provided a milieu that drew other residents and tourists to their midst was a compelling vision. 
Richard Florida’s research, writing, and speaking on this topic made him the unofficial 
spokesperson for the creative class concept, and it was a coup for Toronto when he subsequently 
moved to the city in 2007 to head the newly established Martin Prosperity Institute at the 
University of Toronto. 

In addition to the search for its place in the global knowledge economy, one of the 
obstacles that faced the city was being able to expand its revenue-raising powers, since at the 
time of amalgamation the sole revenue streams were limited to user fees and property taxes. 
Neither Toronto’s mayor nor city council had the power to impose taxation or regulation. This 
issue would change, however, when in 2006 greater powers were granted to the city. In addition 
to the broadening of the newly amalgamated city’s powers came some shifts in the fiscal 
structure, which saw the province of Ontario taking on more of the social service costs but 
reducing its contribution for municipal infrastructure and transportation (City of Toronto, 2005). 

After amalgamation, city leaders began to evaluate and assess the municipality’s assets, 
including its workforce, knowledge base, and infrastructure. Taking stock of existing 
partnerships and resources, these leaders focused on the possibility of being competitive in a 
North American as well as global marketplace. Prior to amalgamation, Toronto saw itself as 
competing with other cities across Canada in a kind of east-west trajectory. This more powerful 
alliance engendered by the amalgamation of the numerous municipalities and the strategic 
initiatives it created gave the amalgamated City of Toronto the impetus to compete in a wider 
marketplace. This included cities beyond Canada’s borders, specifically American cities such as 
San Francisco, Seattle and even New York. For the new City of Toronto, amalgamation brought 
an important role for arts and culture. The city used this sector in planning economic 
development, and gave the creative community a place at the table in city building.  

 
Findings: Toronto as “Cultural Camelot” 

Municipal leaders used the amalgamation of the late 1990s to create an opportunity for 
self-examination and goal setting. A declining manufacturing sector coupled with 
deindustrialization led the new City of Toronto to look for other options in order to develop a 
competitive niche. Extensive research and planning documents led the way towards the 
knowledge economy, using the language of creative city building to leverage existing assets. 
With the imprimatur of the federal and provincial government, this new economic development 
agenda sought to harness the imagination of residents, visitors, and the world and to change the 
direction and impetus of the next decade. Among the documents generated at the turn of the 
millennium was the Official Plan, which included the Economic Development Strategy and the 



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Culture Plan, in addition to planning documents that focused on the issues of social development 
and tourism. Each of these had the common theme of quality of life for all Torontonians, with 
key goals that included building consensus around a shared vision of a healthy and vital city. 
Elements of opportunity, diversity, urban beautification, and leadership were woven throughout 
the initial plans and carried through in subsequent updates (City of Toronto, 2008). 

Toronto's transformation over the decade using arts and culture, based upon an economic 
argument arrived at through studies and reports, was the combination of social value and 
economic value. The decade was one of great accomplishments physically embodied through the 
cultural renaissance. Subsequent to the development of the vision of the renovation and 
revitalization of Toronto’s major cultural institutions, the policy entrepreneurs, who were leaders 
of these organizations, built an advocacy coalition. This coalition implemented their concept of 
the integration of cultural policy and programming into urban economic development (Markusen 
& Gadwa, 2010). Among the priorities of a newly created department at City Hall, called 
Economic Development and Culture, was a focus on using arts and culture as a means to 
implement social programs, especially in the areas of education and youth empowerment 
(Jackson & Kabwasa-Green, 2007). 
 Toronto did surveys, conducted studies and put together partnerships to create an 
entrepreneurial municipal plan for the creation of a globally recognized cultural city. Why did 
they go to all of this effort? Through these reflective and integrative processes, the city was able 
to enhance the social value of arts and culture and create economic value, combining social 
purpose and economic purpose. This decade was about more than making money – it was about 
the manifestation of deeper values, inherently Canadian values that spoke to a sense of the 
national pride. Since the state, evidenced by provincial and federal funding, was the leader in 
financially supporting this initiative, this kind of investment was able to feed on itself through 
the multiplier effect.  
 This window of opportunity created a cultural ecosystem that was greater than the sum of 
its parts. First, the leaders of the major cultural institutions acknowledged the challenges inherent 
in the dual issues of run-down facilities and low demand. Second, a mayor was elected who was 
arts-friendly and wanted to find ways for Toronto to enter the knowledge economy. Third, there 
was an embedded cultural staff on the municipal level, actors who were very interested in 
research and produced comprehensive reports and plans. Fourth, academics, specifically Richard 
Florida, put forward arguments that focused on the creative class and the knowledge economy as 
a driver of urban development. The addition of federal, provincial, and private sector 
stakeholders completed the ingredients that resulted in the perfect cultural collaboration.  

Former Toronto Mayor David Miller was a champion of arts and culture who, together 
with his administration, was a visible advocate of the creative economy. Miller was elected to a 
three-year term in 2003, and was subsequently re-elected in 2006 to serve a four-year term. Chief 
among the key players in his administration was Executive Director of Culture, Rita Davies, who 
was renowned for her efforts as a spokesperson and champion of arts and culture in Toronto. The 
longevity of her work for the city was significant as the chief cultural executive at City Hall, and 
few other departments within the economic development and culture division played as visible a 
role over the decade. One example of municipal involvement in strengthening the creative 
economy was The Toronto Film Board, created by Mayor Miller, which served as a consultative 
body with regards to the film industry, doing briefings for the municipality on the industry as a 
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 The early 2000s saw the convergence of policy entrepreneurs who were leaders of the 
major cultural institutions, a culture friendly mayor, and entrenched municipal staff that was 
producing comprehensive research pointing to the efficacy of the integration of cultural policy 
and economic development. The leadership of the main cultural institutions initiated and 
implemented this effort, demonstrating the role of these leaders as policy entrepreneurs in 
igniting this initiative. Collaboration among Toronto’s major cultural institutions, including the 
Royal Ontario Museum, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet School, the Art 
Gallery of Ontario, and Roy Thompson Hall, each of whom were concerned about aging 
infrastructure, led to the development of an idea to foster the renovation of key anchor entities in 
the city. According to a senior executive at the Royal Ontario Museum, 

Led by the Royal Ontario Museum, individual institutions themselves decided to 
embark on an ambitious track that has worked and transformed the level of public 
demand. These changes have not been public driven, more by internal priorities. Think 
of arts and culture as the “soul of the city.” We haven't just rebuilt these institutions–
they have been revitalized. This adds to the public good. (M. Engstrom, personal 
communication, January 13, 2011) 

 In addition to a focus on rebuilding the large cultural institutions, Toronto instituted 
marketing campaigns and a citywide festival, both of which highlighted the numerous less-
renown local cultural offerings. Gross (2008) discusses the importance of having a variety of 
creative economy opportunities both for residents and tourists. One reasons this conflagration 
succeeded in Toronto include is that this cultural renaissance had its roots embedded in social 
policy and social value, with qualitative underpinnings and echoes of Canadian cultural identity. 
In addition, it enhanced national pride, promoted tourism, gave Toronto international market 
status, and contributed to Torontonians' social wellbeing.  
 As a part of the messaging used in this creative cities campaign, diversity was a key 
element and mechanism for conveying “punch lines” of pride and economic value to residents. 
This was among the tactics employed by the city to encourage foreign-born residents to feel 
more valued as Toronto strived to position itself as an increasingly international city. The 
outcomes of stakeholder investment in arts and culture had resulted in improvements that 
benefited not only the city but also its residents. There was a broad knowledge, both citywide 
and internationally, of Toronto's increased visibility as an arts and culture center. 
 All of the respondents in this investigation felt that there was an important role for 
leadership and stakeholder partnerships (See Figure 2). This included the federal and provincial 
governments as well as the art community, who were key players who that brought the private 
sector in as partners. Mayor David Miller, an advocate for the arts, and the long-term municipal 
cultural leadership – especially Executive Director of Culture Rita Davies -- were powerful 
allies. The Canadian state was open to the argument made by a powerful cultural community in 
Toronto, led by the executives of the key institutions. Toronto's private sector, including 
individuals and corporations, was healthy and receptive to being asked to participate in the 
transformation of the city into a hub for the knowledge economy. There was a focus on mutually 
beneficial goal setting that transpired at City Hall during the decade, with the mayor being 
supported and guided by the leadership from important municipal employees. 



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Figure 2. Toronto Findings: Leadership, Stakeholder Partnerships, & Reports 
  
 Research and reports were the key cultural policy tools employed, augmented by tax, 
zoning, and land-use policy, with the city’s cultural workers perceived by the polis and 



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stakeholders as being positive and helpful. Municipal representatives used the tools to which 
they had access to bring cultural policy to life through the institution of events including 
citywide cultural celebration, Nuit Blanche, and branding campaigns such as Live with Culture. 
Projects that reclaimed decrepit lands, such as Wychwood Barns and the Pinewood Film Studios 
were viewed as examples of the city doing what it could with what it had. Toronto leveraged its 
seemingly unique blend of cultural policy and economic development as it entered the global 
knowledge economy.  
 The decade of the 2000s in Toronto saw the creation of a powerful municipal department, 
called Economic Development and Culture, in which the often-dissimilar policy objectives of 
these two domains were blended to an extraordinary degree. Dependent on one another to fulfill 
the promise of the “Cultural Camelot” created by Toronto's entry onto the creative cities scene, 
this distinct department produced an innovative and influential new paradigm for city building. 
In Toronto, cultural policy was embedded in economic development, and in presenting a public 
face to this symbiotic relationship put forward a friendly and open demeanor. Behind the curtain 
this was a savvy and competitive team, which was strategizing and planning for the achievement 
of its highly–calculated objectives. The two areas identified strengths and assets that the other 
did not have.  
 In the municipality of Toronto, arts and culture learned the economic development 
vocabulary, and economic development specialists used arts and culture as a tool with which to 
make changes in the landscape and financial power of the city. In Canada, the economic 
argument had to be tied to the social value paradigm. A key element in the synthesis of these 
aspirations was the interconnection of cultural policy and economic development; in fact, these 
two departments shared that the same office space at City Hall. The physical proximity, common 
goal of creating a cultural city, and lack of financial power gave the functions of cultural policy 
and economic development the conditions needed to form a tight bond and the motivation to 
seek stakeholder partners in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.  
 An open policy window was created as the newly formed City of Toronto sought to find 
its place in the global knowledge economy. This opening offered an opportunity to put forward 
ideas on how to accomplish this goal. Policy entrepreneurs both in the municipality and in the 
creative community believed that the problem, gaining world stature as a center of the 
knowledge economy, could find a policy solution within the creative cities framework. Aligning 
the political landscape fell to the team at Toronto’s City Hall, who used planning documents and 
strategic options to fashion a blueprint for a so-called ‘cultural renaissance.’ Thus, the streams of 
problem, policy, and politics were joined under the Multiple Streams model to provide an 
opportunity to move forward with this vision for a creative Toronto.  
 The municipality, over the decade, seemed to be in touch with its constituency. They did 
not do things arbitrarily. The city was seen as being in tune with economic value and social value 
and - importantly - the meeting of these two, as embodied within and linked through innovation 
and creativity. The polis in Toronto was an audience to this initiative, with messaging to the 
public about Toronto's rise as a cultural city prevalent during this decade. However, it was 
because the numerous players in this coalition had adopted a new sense of Toronto's power and 
possibility as a cultural capital that this external messaging took place.  
 In Toronto, there was a strong perception of a powerful cultural community, one that 
needed to band together. Toronto’s municipal actors changed their thinking about the way they 
could compete on the cultural level, as well as attempting to change the beliefs of cultural 
tourists and city residents. During the decade, the coalition, with its group of stakeholder 



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partners, was able to build consensus and accomplish an enormous amount to move Toronto 
ahead with its ambitious plans.  

The groups that were aligned included the cultural leaders of the major institutions, the 
province of Ontario, the Canadian federal government, Toronto's mayor, municipal departments 
including Economic Development and Culture, tourism efforts, and the cultural community. 
Within the context of this alliance, the change began with the amalgamation and subsequently 
was fostered by an external source: the nonprofit cultural institutions’ leadership. It then was 
bolstered by the research and reporting done by the municipal personnel, which enabled a new 
kind of policy belief in the potentiality of Toronto as a cultural player on the global knowledge 
economy stage. 

Since the expenditure by the provincial and the federal government was viewed as an 
investment in cultural infrastructure, cultural assets, and cultural amenities, it was not surprising 
that these stakeholders, together with the private sector, were interested in spurring economic 
development. There was a strong relationship between social and economic goals, one that was 
important to all of the players in the creation of Toronto’s Cultural Camelot. This was a case of 
mutual interests among stakeholders, as opposed to competing interests. The many members of 
this coalition embraced the idea of a creative city as a way for the city to attract workers, 
residents and tourists, thus empowering this solution to the problem of entering the knowledge 
economy through the policy stream of the cultural economy interventions. 

These actors, organizations, institutions and corporations worked together in creating 
what could be viewed as a kind of “Pareto improvement” to the City of Toronto in which the 
city’s multiple stakeholders were made better off, without any one of them being made worse 
off. The cultural renaissance could be viewed as a positive externality, in that residents of 
Toronto receive the benefits of a more visually attractive, culturally diverse, and reenergized 
city. This all circles back to the initial support by the state through the federal and provincial 
government, which branched out to the private sector from there. In the case of Toronto’s 
Cultural Renaissance, gaining federal attention and support echoed the national dedication to and 
identity with multiculturalism. 
 Arts and culture became integrated as a part of Toronto’s economic development strategy 
during the decade through a combination of cultural policy research, citywide events, and the 
highly visible cultural built environment of the cultural renaissance. This gave a widely 
recognized and public face to arts and culture policy and its implementation in economic 
development, thus showing all of Toronto's stakeholders the efficacy of this utilization of arts 
and culture. As former Mayor David Miller explained,  

Toronto is creative – this is where the arts are. One key element is that we support 
innovation and creativity. A creative Toronto was at the heart of the economic strategy–it 
was the number one priority for the arts. My goal was to make Toronto more prosperous, 
more livable, and to have more opportunities. Arts and culture have helped on all levels. 
As it became accepted wisdom that arts and culture had an economic value, it became 
easier to succeed in bringing it in. My administration was championing the arts. We were 
free to do that. We have increased the funding every year; we made it a part of the 
conversation from the “bully pulpit” of the Mayor's office. (D. Miller, personal 
communication, January 20, 2011) 

The data show that arts and culture gained a role over the decade as a cornerstone of the 
economic development agenda in that city. It was the center of post-amalgamation cultural 
policy platforms, and was implemented in a clearly thought out manner with a wealth of research 



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to back it up, especially in the form of the substantive municipal cultural planning documents 
and their subsequent updates. During the decade, Toronto, which had been in the shadow of 
Montréal’s creative dominance, attempted a “cultural makeover” from the outside in, with 
economic development consistently coupled with cultural policy.  
 This deeply integrated relationship between cultural policy and economic development in 
Toronto could point to challenges in diversifying its economic development potential. The 
reports and studies produced by the city allowed policymakers, private sector leaders, and the 
cultural community to undergo a kind of change in their thinking about policy and economic 
development, and to recognize that the integration of arts and culture into economic development 
would be effective. This produced a consensus among a variety of actors and institutions, as well 
as a buy-in from the provincial and federal government. This support from the State meant that 
the policy interventions that took place in the arts and culture landscape of Toronto's cultural 
renaissance were well funded, as well as receiving the imprimatur of the government.  

In Toronto during the 2000s, there was a dedication to team building and collaboration in 
the areas of leadership and stakeholder partnerships. According to the municipality’s former 
Executive Director of Culture, Rita Davies, 

Arts and culture play a cohesive role–they help to coalesce communities, bridge 
differences, and tell our stories to ourselves and to the world. Arts and culture 
help bring our stories together to tell our common story. Richard Florida's 
constructs – creativity and idea generation – are key. Talent is nurtured in the arts, 
and then goes on to business. They say that the assets in the firm walk out the 
front door at the end of the day. The rest of Canada benefits from creativity. (R. 
Davies, personal communication, January 21, 2011) 

There was a perception of a team environment in which municipal, provincial, federal, 
and cultural community actors all played leadership roles in the cultural renaissance. The private 
sector was seen as following the state, especially when the larger government entities such as the 
province of Ontario and the federal government came on board for this initiative, pledging nearly 
$260M CAD in 2003 towards the renovation of the city’s anchor cultural institutions (Jenkins, 
2005). Toronto was a consultative environment in which younger artists, community 
partnerships, and multiple stakeholder involvement contributed to the creative teambuilding that 
took place over this timeframe. 

 
Summary 

 Toronto’s policy entrepreneurs contributed to the creation of the cultural renaissance in the 
2000s. They gained traction on the municipal agenda through policy entrepreneurship in the 
creative economic development context. Toronto needed to build partnerships and form alliances 
across sectors in order to bring in stakeholders with greater access to resources. There was 
available funding from the state and the private sector that the city wished to bring to the 
implementation of the cultural renaissance. It was through the development of a strong, unified 
plan that included a variety of actors that this coalition building resulted in the kind of buy-in 
that was necessary to implement Toronto’s ambitious cultural makeover.  
 In the decade of the 2000s, Toronto needed to collaborate across sectors in order to grow 
and thrive. The city was in an ambitious phase of development and employed cultural policy 
tools that were focused on the cultural renaissance. The fact that Toronto did incorporate culture 
and economic development together into one department in 2005 under Mayor Miller meant that 



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they were more apt to consider using city-owned land and buildings as an asset for repurposing 
using arts and culture. The city had a stated interest in partnerships across the public, private, and 
nonprofit sectors and put economic development using arts and culture front and center in its city 
building campaign. The integrated culture and economic development department at City Hall 
justified interventions that incorporated arts and culture both on social benefit and economic 
grounds. 

In striving to compete on a global stage, the municipality utilized creative city data and 
reports in addition to stakeholder partnerships as cultural policy tools within an economic 
development framework (Brooks & Kushner, 2002). This was a case of city actors needing to be 
accountable to stakeholders, which during the 2000s included the provincial and federal 
government and corporate and individual donors. These actors were invested in the multifaceted 
goals of enhancing the cultural built environment, strengthening Toronto’s creative brand, and 
fostering community engagement (Grodach, 2009). Toronto used research to create a vision of 
what could be accomplished in becoming a creative city, and employed strategic planning to 
implement this ideal (see Table 2).  
Topic Area Summary 
What arts and 
culture mean in the 
city 

Toronto has been able to transform itself through arts and culture through 
the articulation of an economic argument and using studies and reports as 
tools with which to make this case. The perceived social value of arts and 
culture to the City is based upon a combination of cultural identity, civic 
pride and an inherent dedication to social welfare. 

The role, benefits, 
and manifestation of 
arts and culture in 
the City 

Over the decade of the 2000s, the highly visible built environment of the 
cultural renaissance has redefined the city. In addition, citywide festivals, 
public art and increased tourism have enhanced awareness of Toronto as 
a cultural place. 

Stakeholder 
involvement and 
leadership 

The Canadian federal government, the Province of Ontario, and the art 
community played a role in bringing the private sector to the table in 
building Toronto as a cultural center over the past decade. The 
combination of an entrenched municipal cultural staff and engaged 
mayor were a powerful team. 

What cultural policy 
means in the city and 
its manifestation 

To compensate for its lack of economic power, Toronto used research 
and reports as its main cultural policy tools, together with the integration 
of tax and zoning initiatives and adaptive reuse strategies. 

Have arts and culture 
gained a 
Role on the 
economic 
development 
agenda? 

Toronto utilized, empowered and implemented economic development 
using arts and culture as the keystone of its entry as a globally 
competitive cultural center. 

Ties to cultural 
policy 

Cultural policy and economic development are interconnected in Toronto 
in a mutually beneficial relationship. 

Table 2. Themes in Toronto’s Decade of Dynamism 
 

Smart Practices: Arts & Culture in Municipal Economic Development  



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 In understanding lessons learned from the Cultural Renaissance, Toronto provides three 
examples of implementing the integration of arts and culture to create a dynamic city. These are: 
1) institute robust research and planning; 2) develop and sustain stakeholder partnerships; and 3) 
integrate both public good and economic benefit in economic development projects and 
programs. The following analysis discusses the efficacy of each of these three pillars in light of 
their innovative and comprehensive components. 
1) Utilize research and strategic planning in the creation and implementation of arts and culture 
interventions in the municipal economic development toolkit.  
 Effective strategy can be informed by research, which can guide policy development and 
implementation incorporating arts and culture. Toronto did this with its cultural renaissance, in 
which the wealth of reports and briefings helped stakeholders to become knowledgeable and 
subsequently to buy into the plan. Toronto used strategic planning to enter the global knowledge 
economy and to shift its focus towards nurturing a “creative competitiveness” (Boudreau et al, 
2009). City actors incorporated a social ethos into the bottom line goals set for municipal 
development over the decade of the 2000s. 
 Toronto produced a wealth of research and reports which gave municipal stakeholders the 
ammunition they needed to bring provincial, federal, and private sector actors and entities to the 
table in formulating the elements for the cultural renaissance (City of Toronto, 2001). The 
municipality laid out the foundation of this ambitious urban project and sought funding for it 
through the provincial and federal government as well as the private sector. Toronto’s research 
on the creative city was a tool with which to generate funding and buy-in from this variety of 
stakeholders, and was influenced directly by numerous reports that made the economic and 
social case for the support of culture by the state and private actors (Blaug, 2001).  

Part of the strategy for Toronto during the decade included the development of citywide 
cultural initiatives and the repurposing of city-owned properties using an arts and culture lens. 
The 24-hour arts festival Nuit Blanche was an example of an event that focused attention upon 
the cultural amenities found in Toronto, and brought up to a million participants together to 
celebrate the city’s creative spirit (Bahn, 2009). Initiated in 2006, Nuit Blanche makes 
contemporary art accessible to the public, drawing up to a million people to the city streets for a 
popular festival targeted at community engagement and interaction with art (Jiwa et al, 2009). 
Numerous cultural institutions, galleries, and creative spaces open their doors, welcoming 
residents and visitors to a lively celebration of Toronto’s creativity (Kurtz, 2009). Wychwood 
Barns, a repurposed streetcar storage area, is an instance of Toronto’s employing city-owned 
land with which to develop a community resource with a cultural dimension (Gertler et al, 2006). 
It was redeveloped by the nonprofit Artscape together with the City of Toronto, and opened in 
2008 with live-work facilities for artists, a public park, and a community gallery space. Now 
offering a variety of cultural events such as gallery tours, classes, music offerings, and art 
festivals, Wychwood Barns has become a popular destination for Toronto residents who wish to 
take advantage of the cultural programming, green space, and sense of community. These 
examples illustrate the way that a strategic plan incorporating arts and culture can be brought to 
life and enjoy subsequent success.  
2. When developing and implementing creative city plans, build and cultivate relationships and 
stakeholder partnerships across policy domains and throughout sectors. 
 Toronto respondents perceived the relationship building aspect to be extremely important 
and an integral component of the cultural renaissance throughout the decade,. The strong ties 



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established between the city and private sector actors were seen as groundbreaking, and 
something to be continued as part of a culture of collaboration initiated by the municipality. The 
data revealed that a sense of collaboration among municipal executives, as well as across sectors, 
was an important tool in building economic strength through arts and culture interventions. As 
Zukin (1995, p. 2) observes, arts and culture in economic development is an effective means by 
which cities can boost consumption and differentiate themselves by developing a creative 
economy brand. Toronto did this by fostering cohesive strategic planning, specifically manifest 
in the annals of City Hall. 
 During the planning and implementation of the cultural renaissance, Toronto’s municipal 
government, specifically the Department of Economic Planning and Culture, saw one of its main 
responsibilities as bringing stakeholders together and building consensus. The numerous 
instances of partnership development include not only drawing in the federal and provincial 
government, corporate actors, and private individuals, but also eliciting input from the cultural 
community and artist stakeholders. Within the municipality, this department served as a 
convener and locus for the creative city aspirations and activity during the decade through a 
team-based approach to the creation and implementation of Toronto’s cultural renaissance. 
Florida (2012, p. 305) points to the importance of what he calls a “people climate” in fostering 
the right environment in which these kinds of interventions can succeed.  
 Open dialogue between private and public sector actors, the implementation of 
consultative processes, and eliciting the advice of experts all were hallmarks in regards to the 
creative city building process. Partnerships included those with private sector actors, such as 
Scotia Bank’s sponsorship of Nuit Blanche and businessman Michael Chin’s significant 
contribution to the Royal Ontario Museum’s renovation. Respondents saw Toronto’s business 
community as following the lead of the government entities, and examples such as these 
illustrate the possibility of leadership from the private sector that could serve as examples for the 
future. Financial investments made during the cultural renaissance exemplify the power of 
reaching out into the private sector.   
3. Create and institute economic development initiatives that incorporate arts and culture through 
a framework that integrates both social good and economic benefit components. 
 Focusing on the two facets of economic development may serve to assist in meeting the 
goal of strengthening the city financially, while putting forward policymakers’ agendas of 
celebrating diversity, building neighborhoods, and increasing municipal pride (Markusen, 2007). 
Integrating these goals can contribute to a municipal environment in which the economic 
development aspirations of a city are strengthened by a dedication to public benefit. In this way, 
the purpose of one supports the other by acknowledging the potential of this interdependent 
relationship, in which each area has seemingly disparate goals and objectives. Zolberg (1990, p. 
25) emphasizes that there is an inexplicable but very tangible connectivity between the social 
good produced by arts and culture and its functionality in playing a role in commerce and the 
economy. Economic development projects intent on growing the creative industries may create 
revenue streams through corporate taxes and workers’ revenues, and non-material results that 
can include becoming known as a center of a cultural industry, such as publishing or film and 
television production. Public good interventions using arts and culture can build civic pride, 
reinforce the city’s efficacy as a place to do business, and draw cultural tourism. 
 Arts and culture provided benefits to Toronto that were manifest both in the realm of 
public good and that of economic strength. Public art, festivals, and fairs are examples of public 
good interventions that can serve as a means to create a sense of excitement for visitors and a 



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feeling of inclusion and pride of place for residents who are able to take advantage both of 
classical and popular cultural offerings (Scott, 2000). Instances that focused on arts and culture’s 
role in public good initiatives are exemplified by Toronto’s citywide Nuit Blanche cultural 
festival. In each case, the interventions attracted cultural tourism, built civic pride, and provided 
a multiplier effect that contributed to the financial health of the city. Another example is the 
“Live with Culture” campaign mounted in Toronto in 2005, instituted to bring attention to the 
wealth of creative options to be found in the city (Boudreau et al, 2009, p. 193). The initiative 
focused on attracting visitors and strengthening pride of place for residents. It also served to 
showcase the wealth of cultural amenities available to workers, thus reinforcing Toronto’s 
attractiveness to the business community.  
 Toronto concerned itself with attracting and keeping the screen-based industries in the 
city by offering incentives and providing ease of use amenities designed to assist companies in 
conducting business. The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is an illustration of a 
screen-based cultural event that leverages its relatively small annual budget to provide nearly 
$70 million CAD in economic impact each year (Gertler et al, 2006). TIFF has grown to 
encompass a year-round location called the TIFF Bell Lightbox & Festival Tower, housing 
screening areas, gallery space, and a condominium.  
 On the economic side, the city made investments in its cultural built environment, as 
exemplified by the renovation of the Royal Ontario Museum and Art Gallery of Ontario. Among 
the economic development initiatives that incorporate the two dimensions of public good and 
economic benefit are cultural districts or developed areas designed to attract visitors and 
residents to creative offerings, instances in which the twin goals of increasing social value and 
promoting financial growth are blended (Stern & Seifert, 2007). Examples include the Distillery 
District, in which a repurposed set of buildings were fashioned to create a destination for cultural 
offerings and entertainment, and the Pinewood Studios project, which incorporated a planned 
neighborhood and film production center to be built on city-owned land (McClelland, 2005).  
 

Conclusion 
This case study exemplifies the power and importance of implementing arts and culture 

in economic development and city building initiatives, and the important role played by policy 
entrepreneurs. This is a case illustrating the agenda setting aspect of the Multiple Streams 
Framework, in which policy entrepreneurs seized the open policy window created after the 
period of Toronto’s amalgamation. The decade of the 2000s exemplified the joining of the three 
streams of problem, policy, and politics. The problem was how to enter the knowledge economy; 
the policy aspect included the fruits of the integration of arts and economic development; and the 
politics centered upon a strategy that brought the local, provincial and federal goals into 
alignment through the built cultural environment, a dedication to public good, and the 
strengthening of Toronto’s cultural economic health.  

Toronto deliberately refashioned itself using a blended cultural policy and economic 
development template. This innovative initiative incorporated research, strategic planning, and 
stakeholder partnerships to create the goal of entering the knowledge economy through a creative 
cities initiative. Policy entrepreneurs within the municipality, as well as those from the cultural 
community, worked together to focus the attention of policymakers and the polis and to coalesce 
messaging about Toronto’s power as a cultural entity on the global stage. Not only did this 
initiative gain a place on the economic development agenda over the 2000s, it played a role in 



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setting the municipal agenda as Toronto’s leaders and citizens embraced their city’s growing 
worldwide popularity as a center of culture. 

 Strategies employed mirrored traditional economic development initiatives, but 
incorporated a strong social equity premise focused on aspects of the cultural economy that are a 
part of the public good, such as pride of place, heritage, and national identity. Despite the 
competition for attention among the many actors and departments in the municipal government, 
the creative cities strategy gained prominence in Toronto during the decade (Jones & 
Baumgartner, 2004). Key cultural players brought together powerful partners including 
provincial, federal government, and private sector actors, gaining access to the city’s policy 
agenda through a strategy that included substantive plans and significant updates to these reports 
(Kingdon, 2011). Bolstered by these municipally authored studies, the cultural renaissance 
initiative penetrated Toronto's agenda and was manifest in the numerous stakeholder 
relationships, creating a powerful reality that strove to fulfill the dream of a world-class cultural 
city. City policymakers worked together with the cultural community and the media to message 
Toronto's Cultural Camelot to the public (Silver et al, 2002).  
 Citywide initiatives, festivals, and fairs such as Nuit Blanche, Live with Culture, 
Luminato, and Toronto International Film Festival, drew the money, attention, interest, and 
excitement of residents and tourists alike. Regular updates to the municipally created culture 
plan, in conjunction with initiatives designed to provide some live/work space for artists and 
incentives for the real estate developers and cultural industries such as film rounded out the 
agenda, making decade one of dynamism for Toronto. Over those years, Toronto has been – on 
the municipal level – a convener and a facilitator. Arts and culture were seen by city dwellers as 
a normal part of life, and now are taken for granted. Toronto is part of a worldwide competition 
to participate in the knowledge economy, which in turn attracts members of the creative sector to 
the city. 

Municipal actors in Toronto, especially those in the Department of Economic 
Development and Culture, took the new vision of the city as a participant in the creative cities 
and knowledge economy and placed it deliberately in the public eye, making it an important way 
that the city leaders communicated with constituents. The integration of the culture and 
economic development departments served as a platform for this plan, and the numerous 
stakeholders were involved both in the development of strategy and its articulation. Toronto in 
the 2000s had to make the case for its desire to commit resources of time, energy, and finances to 
this endeavor. In order to secure the necessary capital, policy entrepreneurs, both in the 
municipality as well as the cultural community, needed to attract buy-in. Carried out on multiple 
levels, Toronto’s municipal mission during that decade was first to garner support for and 
subsequently to implement this vision of the creative Toronto; one that balanced a focus on 
commerce with one on culture (Carr & Servon, 2009).  

This study provides a better understanding of the ways that policy entrepreneurs can 
coalesce to gain access to the municipal agenda. The Multiple Streams Framework, and 
specifically the Agenda Setting Theory, serve as tools to explore and explain how endogenous 
shocks, in this case the amalgamation of Toronto’s outlying areas into a larger entity, can serve 
as opportunities for change. A focused message, combined with political will and motivated 
stakeholder partners, gave Toronto the dynamism it needed to set and achieve an ambitious goal. 
The case reflects upon the blending of opportunity, strategy, and policy, and the analysis serves 
to further the understanding of the ways that opportunities can be leveraged through careful 
planning and the coalescence of seemingly disparate interests. 



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 It is important for the stakeholders in creative city interventions to understand the role 
played by factors such as changing economic circumstances, shifts in public opinion, and the 
opinions of newly elected policymakers. As an example of this, in contrast to the ebullience of 
the decade, the political infrastructure and the enduring power of Toronto’s cultural renaissance 
may be tested. On the physical level, issues related to the quality of program offerings in these 
behemoth, renovated spaces is a concern. On the demand side, the financial realities stemming 
from a weakened U.S. dollar in relation to the Canadian dollar, coupled with slower border 
crossing time after the 2000s led to a diminishment of U.S. tourists to Toronto. Film and 
television production in Toronto slowed after the decade, primarily due to the stronger Canadian 
dollar and more competition for production worldwide. The cultural component of the municipal 
policy domain within economic development has been challenged as a change in mayoralty 
questions the efficacy of increasing funding both to the nonprofit and for-profit components of 
the creative sector. The two functions of cultural policy and economic development in Toronto’s 
City Hall could be pulled apart just as easily as they were integrated together. 
 Because Toronto’s private sector is newly involved as champions of culture to the extent 
they have been over the 2000s, they may not be willing to advocate strongly on the municipal, 
provincial and national levels to protect the fruits of that decade regarding cultural policy. 
Additionally, the city needs to build and sustain the immigrant demand for arts and culture. Since 
immigrants make up nearly fifty percent of Toronto's residents, providing education, uncovering 
interest, and stimulating demand for arts and culture within that sector of the community will be 
an important area of focus. These concerns point to the need for policy entrepreneurs to continue 
to make the case for arts and culture in the municipal, commercial, public, and creative economy 
realms. The opinions and concerns of the polis and policymakers shift and change according to a 
variety of factors, and strategies need to be tailored to the realities of current affairs. Advocates 
of arts and culture in economic development can use the tools of agenda setting within the 
Multiple Streams Framework as a guide to understanding how to navigate this landscape 
effectively to meet their goals. 

Although creative city partnerships of the kind discussed here offer the opportunity for all 
to benefit, success is not assured. The further development of theoretical frameworks and 
utilization of policy theories that can assist in understanding and addressing the disjointed 
interests of a variety of stakeholders in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors could contribute 
greatly to improved outcomes in urban economic development initiatives employing arts and 
culture. This type of policy entrepreneurship serves as a model for cities worldwide, 
demonstrating that the blend of policy, planning, and persistence can result in the creation of a 
city of culture that offers economic wellbeing and quality of life enhancements for residents and 
visitors alike. 

 
Acknowledgements 

 
This research was funded by a generous grant from The Rockefeller Foundation 

  



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