In Stratford, Ont., the Stratford Shakespeare Festival plays a central role in the local economy. Launched in 1953 and now North America's largest not-for-profit theatre company, the festival sells $32-million worth of tickets during its April-to-November season.
For each ticket sold, patrons spend $288 on local dining, shopping and hotels (30 per cent of festival-goers come from outside Canada). “There's a lot of activity that happens uniquely because there's a theatre here,” says Antoni Cimolino, the festival's general director.
But if the City of Stratford has transformed itself from a railway and furniture-making town into a theatrical and culinary destination, it's no tourist trap. Many residents work in farming and manufacturing, and the city of 32,000 owes much of its pleasant character to an extensive park system.
In urban planning and consulting parlance, Stratford has a high quality of place. “It's a real town,” Mr. Cimolino says. “You go into some communities that are based on tourism and you can't buy a pair of socks. Everything looks plastic. That is not the case in Stratford.”
Increasingly, Canadian cities are striving to create a unique identity – and give themselves an economic boost – by making culture an integral part of their appeal. In recent years, they’ve been catching up to their global peers’ cultural planning efforts, says Greg Baeker, Toronto-based director of cultural development at the economic development consulting firm Millier Dickinson Blais.
Across Canada, such plans encompass cultural amenities and urban design, as well as the economic role of creative cultural industries, Mr. Baeker says. “Cities are beginning to try to look at these issues less in a piecemeal way and more in a holistic and integrated way.”
As part of a strategy to draw new businesses and residents, as well as overnight visitors, Stratford has strengthened its cultural offerings – a key element of quality of place. Mayor Dan Mathieson says the resulting blend of artistic and epicurean experiences, including a food festival linked to the region's agricultural roots, is helping to bring jobs to town.
In November, Royal Bank of Canada will open a $400-million, 400,000-square-foot data centre in Stratford. A new breed of settler is arriving, too. “We're starting to see a lot of those people who can live anywhere decide to take root here, and they might telecommute or commute to work,” Mr. Mathieson says.
Culture can mean big economic benefits for cities of all sizes. Last year, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival had an economic impact of almost $140-million and generated about 3,000 full-time jobs, according to the Conference Board of Canada. With revenue of $59-million, it yielded more than $75-million in taxes. Nationally, the Conference Board pegged the economic impact of the cultural sector at $85-billion in 2007.
Among cities worldwide, Glasgow is a pioneer of cultural planning, Mr. Baeker says. Designated a European Capital of Culture in 1990, Scotland's biggest city invested the accompanying EU funding in an integrated plan. “Culture-led economic development with quality of place at the centre of that is what they've been doing ever since,” Mr. Baeker says, adding that Seattle, Wash., and Austin, Tex., have seen similar success.
When Mr. Baeker works with a community, one of the first things he does is map its cultural assets. This includes creative industries and art galleries, but also heritage districts and conservation areas.
On their own, Mr. Baeker warns, cultural resources won't transform a local economy. Besides making a city interesting and attractive to talented people, they form just one part of an economic diversification strategy, he says.
Saskatoon, Sask., did cultural mapping with Mr. Baeker as part of the research for its new Culture Plan. Kevin Kitchen, the city’s community initiatives manager, helped spearhead the plan, which aims to integrate culture into all aspects of city building.
