Beyond Town and Gown: Universities, Territoriality and the Mobilization of New Urban Structures in Canada

Abstract

Cities and universities have been active participants in the creation of new economic structures, but the sociospatial relationships between ‘town’ and ‘gown’, and the potential impact of deepening and diversifying the relationship on either side, are neither fully understood nor simple. In this paper, we focus on universities in Canada to provide an integrative review of the changing sociospatial relations of cities and universities in an era of increasing neoliberal and globalized development agendas. We treat these relationships in spatial and institutional terms, recognizing that actors and decision-makers in government and academic bodies understand their links as a combination of both. Our analysis destabilizes established normative understandings regarding the sociospatial structure and governance of the university and the interrelations between universities and urban space. Numerous spatial strategies demonstrate that universities' relations are multi-layered, multi-scaled and multiply topological. Yet while they may be well positioned to adopt a proactive role in shaping economic development and civic agendas, universities have no privileged position in their communities. Despite acting as deliberate place-making agents in rapidly changing metropolitan environments, universities remain located in, yet apart from, their urban and regional context.

Extracto

Las ciudades y las universidades han desempeñado una participación activa en la creación de nuevas estructuras económicas; sin embargo, las relaciones socioespaciales entre ciudades y universidades, y el posible efecto de profundizar y diversificar la relación en ambas partes, ni se comprenden completamente ni son sencillos. En este artículo, centramos nuestra atención en las universidades canadienses con el objetivo de ofrecer un análisis integrador de las relaciones socioespaciales entre las ciudades y las universidades en continuo cambio y en un periodo de crecientes programas de desarrollo neoliberal y globalizado. Tratamos estas relaciones en términos espaciales e institucionales, reconociendo que los protagonistas y responsables de la toma de decisiones en los organismos gubernamentales y académicos entienden que sus relaciones funcionan con una combinación de ambos. Nuestro análisis desestabiliza los conceptos normativos establecidos con respecto a la estructura socioespacial y la gobernanza de la universidad y la interrelación entre universidades y el espacio urbano. Numerosas estrategias espaciales demuestran que las relaciones de las universidades son multifacéticas, con varias escalas y una topología multiplicada. Sin embargo, aunque puedan estar en condiciones propicias para adoptar un papel activo a la hora de reformar el desarrollo económico y los programas cívicos, las universidades no tienen una posición privilegiada en sus comunidades. Pese a actuar como agentes intencionados de desarrollo urbano en el rápido cambio de los entornos metropolitanos, las universidades siguen estando ubicadas, pero separadas, de su contexto urbano y regional.

城市与大学已成为创造新经济结构中的活跃参与者，但‘小镇’与‘学术社群’之间的社会空间关係，以及逐渐深化且日益多样化的关係对两者产生的潜在影响，不仅尚未被全盘理解、且并不单纯。我们在本文中聚焦加拿大的大学，整合性地回顾城市与大学在逐渐兴起的新自由主义和全球发展议程的年代中，不断改变的社会空间关係。我们将就空间和制度方面检视这些关係，指认政府以及学术社群中的行动者和决策制定者，将彼此之间的联结理解为两者的结合。我们的分析，颠覆就大学的社会空间结构与治理、以及大学与城市空间的相互关联性方面，已建立的规范性理解。众多的空间策略，显示大学的关係是多层次、多尺度与多重形态的。虽然大学处于有利的位置，在形塑经济发展与公民议程中採取主动积极的角色，但它们在其所身处的社区中并不具有优势地位。儘管大学在快速变迁的大都会环境中，表现作为地方打造的审慎行动者，但大学仍然位于、却也抽离于其所座落的城市及区域的脉络。

Résumé

Les grandes villes et les universités ont participé activement à la création de nouvelles structures économiques. Cependant les rapports sociospatiaux entre ‘town and gown’, à savoir entre la communauté universitaire et la population locale, et l'impact éventuel du renforcement et de la diversification du rapport de part et d'autre, ne sont ni très bien compris, ni simples. Ce présent article cherche à focaliser les universités au Canada pour fournir un examen par intégration de l’évolution des rapports sociospatiaux des grandes villes et des universités à une époque de programmes de développement néolibéraux et mondialisés plus nombreux. On aborde ces rapports des points de vue spatial et institutionnel tout en reconnaissant que les acteurs et les décideurs gouvernementaux et les organismes universitaires entendent leurs rapports sous les deux angles. L'analyse remet en question les idées normatives reçues pour ce qui est de la structure et de la gouvernance sociospatiales de l'université et des interrelations entre les universités et l'espace urbain. De nombreuses stratégies spatiales démontrent que les rapports des universités s'avèrent multidimensionnels, multiscalaires et se multiplient topologiquement. Cependant, tandis qu'elles pourraient être bien placées pour adopter un rôle proactive dans l’élaboration des programmes de développement économique locaux, les universités n'occupent aucune position privilégiée dans la communauté. Bien qu'elles agissent en tant que des agents d'aménagement délibérés dans des milieux métropolitains en mutation rapide, les universités restent bien implantées dans, mais séparées de, leur contexte urbano-régional.

Keywords:

• higher-education institutions
• territory
• topology
• urbanization
• innovation
• regional development

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Knowledge Synthesis program of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. We wish to thank John Agnew and the Territory, Politics, Governance reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions. We also gratefully acknowledge research work undertaken by Elena Chou and cartographic assistance from Brian Davidson and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Cartography Lab.

Notes

1. We draw a conceptual distinction between universities as institutions awarding bachelors’, masters’ and doctoral degrees and other HEIs, including community colleges (which may award diplomas and bachelors’ degrees) and educational technology companies, such as Coursera and MIT's edX, which have pioneered the development and expansions of MOOCs.

2. While certain Canadian regions are able to capitalize upon their local specializations (energy resources in Calgary, transport and logistics in Vancouver), recent studies suggest that Toronto performs well in finance, transportation and food and beverage manufacturing, the GTA is only ranked top in the (declining) auto industry (Blackwell, 2012).

3. Universities' form and function are broadening alongside their particular missions. The Oecd (2007) has called for HEIs to educate a broader array of people in local areas to ensure local labor has the skills necessary to promote employability is a competitive global economy. National governments are increasingly attempting to diversify the nature of academic institutions to enhance their innovation systems' flexibility (Perry, 2006). The resultant massification of higher education attempts to open educational opportunities for a broader section of society. However, the imperatives of neoliberalization and austerity regimes have also compelled universities to pursue increased commercialization of their products and offerings while focusing on marketing themselves and developing applied specializations within the emerging, increasingly competitive world of entrepreneurial education (Lederer and Seasons, 2005; Lowrie and Wilmott, 2006).

4. Universities actively change their space-using behavior in order to exploit land holdings, attract top faculty and students and to take advantage of new technological advances. At the same time, many are lobbying regional partners to enhance their competitiveness and ensure the successful development of science parks and incubators etc. These perspectives imply differing power relations and structural capacities for the actors involved (Benneworth et al., 2010).

5. May (2006, p. 342) argues university managers, as well as academics, continue to hold an aspatial view of universities and often fail to understand the changes presented by institutional and urban restructuring. Fluctuating institutional aims inhibit the necessary mobilization of institutional power—matched with available symbolic and material resources—that is vital for universities' ‘success at the game of scales’ (also see Christopherson et al., 2010, Wolfe, 2010).

6. The University of New Brunswick is pursuing an innovation-driven growth strategy which attempts to position itself at the forefront of sonar-based ocean floor mapping the analysis of materials with MRI machines, and the creation of advanced wood composites; fields directly tied to the region's resource economy (Woodward, 2010).

7. The rapid growth of demand at satellite campuses brings significant pressure to reconfigure educational and urban space. Nipissing University's Muskoka branch (opened in 1996) rapidly outgrew its initial strip mall location and in 2008 relocated to a five-hectare downtown location on land donated by the municipality of Bracebridge (Lorinc, 2007). It is important to note that to talk of university branch campuses often evokes conceptions of the university and university life (student unions, athletic facilities, libraries) which may not be met by actually existing satellites. The alternative physical environment of branch campuses may open more inclusive space for non-traditional students and adult learners looking for workplace training, yet their divergence from expected spatial norms has led some students to be dissatisfied with the education experience being provided (Brady-Myerov, 2012).

8. Technological innovation is vital to enable the expansion of branch campuses. Online teaching formats allow for flexible course delivery and web-based libraries offering digital materials provide an alternative to costly physical library buildings and holdings. It is worth considering the impact of free MOOCs designed to further lifelong learning and sometimes the simple acquisition of a certificate versus a credit or a degree. In principle some of these could be structured at the city-regional scale, or across multiple city-regions, helping to facilitate the expansion of knowledge transfer and democratic education opportunities.

9. We are grateful to one of the Territory, Politics, Governance reviewers for this suggestion.