The Great Urban Techno Shift

A growing literature suggests that inner city economies are changing as abandoned factories are replaced by techno start-ups. Much of the evidence so far is anecdotal. The paper examines the spatial dynamics (1996-2011) of “New Economy” (NE) employment in Canada’s three largest metropolises using GIS and econometric techniques. The evidence is consistent with a shift to central neighborhoods. The share of NE employment in central neighborhoods grew and average distances to the central business district fell. The econometric results point to the increasing weight of central city attributes and decreasing role of suburban attributes as predictors of NE employment location.