David Dixon Delivers Keynote at Ottawa Senior Leadership Workshop

Dixon delivered a keynote on urban planning and revitalization at the Ottawa Senior Leadership Workshop. His focus connected walkable, mixed-use development with attracting talent, encouraging investment, and supporting inclusive growth.

This Kanata North vision shows how walkable neighborhoods can attract talent, foster collaboration, and strengthen Ottawa’s innovation economy, as David Dixon, FAIA, emphasized in his keynote.

David Dixon, FAIA, the keynote speaker at the Ottawa Senior Leadership Workshop, focused on the key lessons planning for Kanata North offered for diversifying Ottawa’s economy from its heavy reliance on government by building its competitive position as a global innovation hub.

Based in part on his leadership in planning for the next chapter of Kanata North, located outside of Calgary and Canada’s largest innovation cluster, Ottawa’s General Manager of Planning, Real Estate, and Economic Development invited David to meet with the city’s senior staff to discuss the fundamental trends shaping urban futures. 

“For Ottawa’s leaders, Kanata North presents a powerful opportunity: connect innovation with everyday life through walkable places that invite people to live, work, meet, and exchange ideas.” — David Dixon, FAIA

Building Ottawa’s Competitive Advantage in the Innovation Economy

Canada’s immigration policies make it a global destination for the educated talent that represents the most critical building block for a robust innovation economy.

But this talent has many options in terms of both where to live and where to work. Dixon focused on Ottawa’s opportunities to create more walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that promoted interaction—and offered walk-to-work opportunities—to leverage the city’s current innovation companies (clustered in Kanata North) and strong research universities to increase Ottawa’s competitive position in the global innovation economy.

START A CONVERSATION