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Reproducing Toronto’s Design Ecology: Career Paths, Intermediaries, and Local Labor Markets

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  • Tara Vinodrai
Abstract
Creativity is becoming the currency of the contemporary economy. A sustained literature in economic geography and elsewhere has pointed to the importance of creativity, especially in the cultural industries. Production in these sectors often rests upon access to deep pools of highly skilled talent, primarily in large urban regions. However, the recent literature has stated that cultural or creative inputs are not limited to these industries, but also extend into other sectors of the economy that benefit from access to the same (local) labor markets. It is argued that creative work is primarily project based and that highly skilled creative professionals move seamlessly from project to project and from job to job. This circulation of talent is viewed as crucial to the flow of knowledge and the (re)production of practices, norms, and reputations across firm and industry boundaries within the city-region. Despite the compelling nature of this description, the labor market dynamics that underpin this circulation of creative workers remain poorly specified and only weakly substantiated. This article addresses this issue by investigating systematically the local interfirm and interindustry dynamics of creative labor markets. Using evidence from the detailed career histories of practicing designers, as well as in-depth interviews with various institutional actors in Toronto, it documents how the careers of designers are characterized by precariousness and high levels of circulation within the local labor market. The analysis also demonstrates the importance of reputation building, repeated collaborations, shared career paths, and mediation by a constellation of formal and informal intermediary actors for career development.

Suggested Citation

  • Tara Vinodrai, 2006. "Reproducing Toronto’s Design Ecology: Career Paths, Intermediaries, and Local Labor Markets," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 82(3), pages 237-263, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:recgxx:v:82:y:2006:i:3:p:237-263
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1944-8287.2006.tb00310.x
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Roberta Comunian & Alessandra Faggian, 2011. "Higher Education and the Creative City," Chapters, in: David Emanuel Andersson & Åke E. Andersson & Charlotta Mellander (ed.), Handbook of Creative Cities, chapter 10, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Allan Watson & Jonathan V Beaverstock, 2016. "Transnational freelancing: Ephemeral creative projects and mobility in the music recording industry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(7), pages 1428-1446, July.
    3. Rik Wenting & Oedzge Atzema & Koen Frenken, 2008. "Urban Amenities or Agglomeration Economies? Locational Behaviour and Entrepreneurial Success of Dutch Fashion Designers," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 0803, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jan 2008.
    4. Alan MacPherson & Vida Vanchan, 2010. "The Outsourcing of Industrial Design Services by Large US Manufacturing Companies," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 33(1), pages 3-30, January.
    5. Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés & Lee, Neil, 2020. "Hipsters vs. geeks? Creative workers, STEM and innovation in US cities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 103974, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Anna Butzin & Brigitta Widmaier, 2012. "The Study of Time-Space Dynamics of Knowledge with Innovation Biographies," Working Papers on Innovation and Space 2012-07, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    7. Neil Lee & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2014. "Creativity, Cities, and Innovation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(5), pages 1139-1159, May.
    8. Aspers, Patrik & Kohl, Sebastian & Power, Dominic, 2008. "Economic sociology discovering economic geography," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 9(3), pages 3-16.
    9. Harald Bathelt & Armin Gräf, 2008. "Internal and External Dynamics of the Munich Film and TV Industry Cluster, and Limitations to Future Growth," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 40(8), pages 1944-1965, August.
    10. Jan van der Borg & Erwin van Tuijl, 2011. "Upgrading of Symbolic and Synthetic Knowledge Bases: Analysis of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry and the Automotive Industry in China," Working Papers 2011_25, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    11. Tara Vinodrai, 2011. "Understanding Canada’s Evolving Design Economy," Chapters, in: David Emanuel Andersson & Åke E. Andersson & Charlotta Mellander (ed.), Handbook of Creative Cities, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Aggela Dimitropoulou & Ioannis Giotopoulos & Aimilia Protogerou & Aggelos Tsakanikas, 2023. "Does the innovativeness of creative firms help their business clients to innovate?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 1-32, February.
    13. Margarida Rodrigues & Mário Franco, 2018. "Measuring the Performance in Creative Cities: Proposal of a Multidimensional Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-21, November.
    14. James Faulconbridge & Sarah Hall, 2011. "Business Knowledges Within and Between the World City," Chapters, in: Ben Derudder & Michael Hoyler & Peter J. Taylor & Frank Witlox (ed.), International Handbook of Globalization and World Cities, chapter 20, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Rik Wenting & Oedzge Atzema & Koen Frenken, 2011. "Urban Amenities and Agglomeration Economies? The Locational Behaviour and Economic Success of Dutch Fashion Design Entrepreneurs," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 48(7), pages 1333-1352, May.
    16. Erwin van Tuijl & Luís Carvalho, 2014. "Knowledge Sourcing, Knowledge Bases, and the Spatial Organisation of Car Design," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(8), pages 1966-1982, August.
    17. Paul Vallance, 2015. "Design employment in UK regional economies: Industrial and occupational approaches," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 30(6), pages 650-671, September.
    18. Ibert, Oliver & Pflanz, Kai & Schmidt, Suntje, 2012. "Spiel auf vielen Bühnen: Wie Musicaldarsteller ihre Vulnerabilität und Resilienz auf dem Arbeitsmarkt konstruieren," IRS Working Papers 46, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS).
    19. Margarida Rodrigues & Mário Franco, 2020. "Measuring the urban sustainable development in cities through a Composite Index: The case of Portugal," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 507-520, July.
    20. Dominic Power & Johan Jansson, 2011. "Constructing Brands from the Outside? Brand Channels, Cyclical Clusters and Global Circuits," Chapters, in: Andy Pike (ed.), Brands and Branding Geographies, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Christine Benna Skytt-Larsen & Lars Winther, 2015. "Knowledge Production, Urban Locations and the Importance of Local Networks," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1895-1917, September.

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