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Arctic Yearbook 2014
Figure 2: Talent Index (TI) in Selected Arctic Cities
Case Study 1: Creative Capital in the Canadian Territories
The two case studies presented below are used to provide more region-specific evidence and
illustrate relationships among creative capital groups in Canada and Alaska. The findings confirm
that the creative capital is present in the North in considerable quantities, albeit heavily clustered in
certain communities and regions. Whereas Arctic regions have variable levels of creative capital
(whether examined at the circumpolar or regional scale), many of them have higher-than-expected
creative resources.
This section provides an abbreviated description of the creative class metrics analysis for 27
Canadian communities (Territorial communities with population larger than 500). The geographies
of individual indices reveal regional inequalities and clustering of CC in northern Canada (Figure 3).
The Talent Index (calculated as a location quotient using Canada as a baseline) demonstrates a wide
gap between capitals and the rest of the Territories. Some regional centers, such as Inuvik and Fort
Smith, also perform relatively well. However, the majority of Arctic communities exhibit TI levels
under 0.7, i.e. well below the Canadian benchmark. In contrast, the Territories have considerable
leadership (Leadership Index) and cultural capital (Bohemian Index). This is especially true for Nunavut
communities, many of which serve as regional centers and have strong localized cultural economy
based on traditional arts and crafts (Nordicity Group 2010). A notable outlier is Cape Dorset (BI
>5.0), a settlement with a long history of commercialized print production that has the reputation of
being one of Canada’s most artistic communities (Alsop 2010). At the same time, most Arctic
communities lack entrepreneurial capital, i.e. have a very low percent of residents with business
occupations. This fact illustrates an entrepreneurial disconnect observed in other peripheral regions
Petrov