This thesis examines city conditions that attract high tech companies in Canada
and the United States, gives an insight into the high tech industry in Richmond, analyses
factors that determine the location of high tech in the City of Richmond, and identifies
possible actions that the City of Richmond could take to attract high technology. The
problem statement focuses on factors that determine the location of high tech industries
in North American cities, generally, and in the City of Richmond, specifically.
The thesis' methodology consists of a literature review, survey and interview
research, statistical analysis, and policies and zoning regulations review. The economic
and planning literature have provided better understanding of the definition of high tech
industry, the types of high technology clusters, and the locational factors affecting the
spatial distribution of high tech companies. Both the survey and the interview questions
have focused on the effective methods of attracting high tech industries, the conditions
making high tech industries successful in the surveyed cities, the development
characteristics supporting high tech industries, the development tools used by the cities in
practice, and the current effective planning approaches to high technology. The statistical
analysis and the review of policies and zoning regulations have provided an insight into
the number and size of the high tech companies located in the city of Richmond, as well
as into Richmond's policies related to high technology.
This thesis finds that high tech industries are foot - loose industries that
often change locations due to factors, such as better tax climate, availability of an
educated workforce, and post - secondary institutions presence. As a result, there is no
standard framework to explain the locational pattern of high technology. However, this
thesis identifies two sets of locational factors - general and specific - that are decisive for
high technology today. There is an obvious requirement for general locational factors,
such as a skilled workforce, post-secondary educational institutions proximity, linkages
to other industries, good public transit, good quality business parks, higher building
densities, and affordable housing. The specific locational factors depend on the type of
high tech sector, and they are required by certain high tech sectors, such as
biotechnology.
The locational factors revealed by this thesis do not represent a framework that is
applicable to all communities that aim to attract high tech businesses. However, the
findings of this thesis present valid information for any community to consider before
pursuing high tech policies and programs. In addition, this thesis leads to
recommendations regarding the steps that communities could undertake in order to
develop successful high tech policies and programs. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/9115 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Korolj, Zorica |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Format | 3999033 bytes, application/pdf |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
Page generated in 0.0322 seconds