Toronto’s Cultural Renaissance

Abstract

Toronto is experiencing a building boom, with eight major cultural construction projects in the works. These new monuments, part of what the City of Toronto calls its "Cultural Renaissance," are intended to bolster the city's reputation as an international economic and cultural capital. Albeit architecturally important, these buildings are better understood in the context of contemporary patterns of global economic competition and the changing role of culture in capitalist production. They also assert national identity and reflect a reorientation of Canadian cultural policy. This paper analyzes Toronto's "Cultural Renaissance" in light of changing cultural policies at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels, examining the role these new buildings will play in terms of promoting cultural tourism, city "branding," and nationalism.Résumé : La ville de Toronto connaît actuellement un boum immobilier comprenant huit projets culturels majeurs. Ces nouveaux monuments, qui feront partie de ce qu'elle appelle une « Renaissance culturelle », visent à accroître la réputa-tion de la ville en tant que capitale économique et culturelle internationale. Ces immeubles sont importants du point de vue architectural, mais leur fonction se comprend mieux dans le contexte de la concurrence économique mondiale actuelle et du rôle changeant de la culture dans la production capitaliste. Ils affirment en outre l'identité nationale et reflètent une réorientation de la politique culturelle canadienne. Cet article analyse cette « Renaissance culturelle » torontoise à la lumière des politiques culturelles changeantes aux niveaux municipal, provincial et fédéral, examinant le rôle que ces nouveaux immeubles joueront dans la promotion du tourisme culturel et du nationalisme et dans la mise en valeur de la ville en tant que « marque ».

Exploring the dimensions of place branding: an application of the ICON model to the branding of Toronto

“…The formation of the amalgamated City of Toronto in 1998 offered new opportunities for brand development and promotion, but also led the city to experience an 'identity crisis' of sorts (Jenkins, 2005). During the consultation process that led to amalgamation, the regional arts and cultural communities made it known that they expected Toronto to be (2000) and Florida (2002), set about developing cultural policies that would help develop Toronto into a global 'Creative City.'…”

Cultural Economy Planning in Creative Cities: Discourse and Practice

“…Third, the creative city concept is used to promote strategies at odds with Florida's advice. Reinforcing the emphasis on marketing, a key program held up as furthering Toronto's creative city strategy is the Canada–Ontario Infrastructure Program, or ‘Cultural Renaissance’, a CDN $233 million initiative funded by the federal and provincial governments to leverage money for the creation of new or expanded facilities for seven of Toronto's major cultural institutions, like the Royal Ontario Museum, Art Gallery of Ontario and the Toronto Opera (Jenkins, ). The investment in flagship cultural institutions, which is geared towards attracting international attention similar to that lavished on the Guggenheim Bilbao, deviates from Florida's (: 259–60) emphasis on ‘street‐level amenities’ and historic mixed‐use areas, despite addressing quality of place.…”

Cultural-based challenges of the westernised approach to development in newly developed societies

“…From a political perspective, significant cultural buildings and institutions represent a dynamic, modern polity, and reflect the city's and the country's international position (Jenkins 2005). Dubai shows that for newly developed modern societies, particularly those aiming to make an instant and exceptional appearance on the global stage (Stephenson 2013), it is essential not to lose opportunities for the critical development of more locally produced cultural products, such as local museums, heritage centres, indigenous sport, local cuisine and festivals.…”