This article uses three cities in the same Canadian province (Ontario): Toronto, Ottawa and Waterloo, to examine how regions compete in high-technology markets. We find that regions use civic capital to leverage new, technological windows of opportunity, but they do so in very different ways. Tracing Toronto's evolution from a marketing hub for foreign multinationals into a centre for entrepreneurship, we illustrate how weak ties and cross-sectoral buzz created a 'super connector', scaling high-technology firms in a wide variety of areas. In Ottawa, task-specific cooperation in R&D, education and specialised infrastructure enabled the region to overcome the disadvantages of its small size as a 'specialist' in a single, capital-intensive niche, telecommunications equipment. Finally, entrepreneurs in Waterloo eschewed task-specific cooperation for peer-to-peer mentoring. By diffusing generic knowledge about how to circumvent the liabilities of smallness, mentoring networks enabled this 'scrapper' city to support smaller start-ups in a broad range of niches.
本文选择了加拿大同一个省（安大略省）的三个城市：多伦多、渥太华和滑铁卢，来考察各地区如何在高科技市场中竞争。我们发现，各地区都利用民间资本来抓住新的技术机遇，但它们的方式却大相径庭。我们以多伦多从外国跨国公司的营销中心演变为创业中心的过程为例，说明了弱联系和跨行业的热潮如何创造出一个 "超级连接器"，扩大各个领域的高科技公司的规模。在渥太华，研发、教育和专业基础设施方面的特定任务合作使该地区能够克服其规模小的劣势，成为单一资本密集型细分市场（电信设备）的 "专家"。通过传播关于如何规避小企业责任的通用知识，辅导网络使这座 "拳击手 "城市能够在广泛的利基领域为小型初创企业提供支持。.
Keywords: civic capital; governance; innovation; networks; regional development.
© Urban Studies Journal Limited 2023.