The great urban techno shift: Are central neighborhoods the next silicon valleys? Evidence from three canadian metropolitan areas
Le grand changement technologique urbain: les quartiers centraux sont-ils les prochaines Sillicon Valleys? Une analyse de trois régions métropolitaines canadiennes
Résumé
A growing literature highlights the emergence of central techno neighborhoods; however, does this mean that suburban techno districts are designed to decline? We examine the spatial dynamics (1996-2011) of computer service employment, subset of the New Economy, in Canada's three largest metropolises using GIS and econometric techniques. The evidence is largely consistent with a growing weight of central neighborhoods, especially in Montreal and Vancouver, although in all three cities, suburban techno clusters have continued to grow. The econometric results point to the higher weight of neighborhood environment variables, including indicators of "coolness", as predictors of computer service employment location.