Small Business and the City

Each atomistic transaction between a small business and a customer provides the flare for a rich economic eruption, encompassing spillovers and interactions with other firms, citizens, and the built environment. This book offers a bold explanation of how cities can succeed by nurturing and harnessing these powerful interactions to create dynamic communities and growing economies. -- Kevin Milligan, Associate Professor, Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia A most useful book, especially for the city planner, urban geographer, and anyone who cares about the future of cities. Relevant case analyses are embedded in a coherent structure that provides practical examples of past successes and failures as well as sensible policy recommendations for the future. Highly recommended. -- David K. Foot, Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics, University of Toronto, and author of 'Boom, Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift' Small Business and the City is a plea for a 'small is beautiful' approach to business, urban scale, and public sector decision-making. Gomez, Isakov, and Semansky's evocative descriptions of Business Improvement Areas teach far more about BIAs, their operations, and the thinking of their members than do tables of statistics on these organizations. -- Pierre Filion, Professor, School of Planning, University of Waterloo