There are leaders in London, but London as a city is not recognized as a leader in anything — at least not that I know of (please correct me if I’m wrong). We have many distinguished organizations and individuals, yes, but what I mean by being recognized as a leader is a domain in which, whenever it’s mentioned, the first city people think of is London.
We don’t have to be a leader in any specific domain — most cities aren’t, probably — but can London afford not to be? It’s one thing for a city like Mississauga not to be a recognized leader in something, but a regional city like London (may we say regional capital?), in an age that seems to be moving towards regionalization, I don’t know if we can afford to leave our identity and fate to chance. Especially when “chance” might mean Queen’s Park and Ottawa deciding that Ontario and Canada will be more prosperous by channelling resources to more efficient megaregions like Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal.
If we are a leader — or even trying to become one — it went without mention in the mayor’s speech last week.
The talked a lot about green but I don’t see how we could be a leader there. London hasn’t been a leader in composting and recycling and I don’t think we have the cultural or operational resources to elevate ourselves in that domain. What the mayor was talking about was bringing ourselves up to where every city should be.
The only thing I think we might lead in is salesmanship: making up convoluted attractions and events, winning the rights to host tournaments, etc, and going around selling ourselves via the LEDC… which is worst way to develop sustainable competetive advantage.
It’s fitting that Richard Who’s Your City? Florida is coming…
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