Two logics of regionalism: the development of a regional imaginary in the Toronto-Waterloo Innovation Corridor

摘要

Why and how do regional politics develop outside the context of a coherent regional economy? Alongside the familiar logic of city-regional growth coalitions, we introduce a less familiar logic of regional imaginaries actively constructing strategies in novel scalar configurations. We explore this second logic of regionalism in the case of the Toronto-Waterloo 'Innovation Corridor'. We highlight three important forces: the productive ambiguity of the region as a spatial and strategic concept; the centrality of regionalism entrepreneurs in constructing a political agenda; and the importance of extrospective policy-making for establishing a rationale for collaboration.