Strategic Research Cluster on
Quality of Life Reporting Systems
and Cultural Indicators for Smaller Canadian Communities

Canada's urban areas are currently facing serious economic, social and environmental challenges. This is especially true for smaller cities, which have for many years depended on mining, agriculture, manufacturing and industry to sustain their growth, and which are now experiencing stable or declining population bases, are struggling to chart new directions for the future.

The strategic cluster researching Quality of Life Reporting Systems and Cultural Indicators for smaller Canadian communities brings together the three Community-University Research Alliances—centred in Kamloops, B.C., Saint John, New Brunswick, and Waterloo, Ontario—currently studying the cultural and social aspects of those small and mid-size cities making the transition from a reliance on industry and resource extraction to a reliance on cultural, environmental and historical resources.

In addition, we partnered with a number of national groups and organizations, including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the Working Group on Museums and Sustainable Communities, La Trobe University’s Centre for Sustainable Regional Communities, the Creative City Network, and numerous individual cities (with the City of Kamloops taking a lead role).

We maintain that smaller cities occupy what many observers have identified as a cultural “third space,” positioned as they are in the shadow of large cosmopolitan cities but still bound by rural history and traditions. Understanding this space requires us to address people’s experiences and perceptions: to gather information on what long-term residents and newcomers feel about themselves and their communities. The under-representation of small cities in the scholarly literature on cities generally, particularly with respect to quality of life measures and cultural indicators, is thus a key rationale for research—and for this present research initiative.

The research portal is designed to facilitate the exchange of research. Books, articles, reports, and presentations have been conveniently archived for easy access; research cluster participants are encouraged to add their work to this archive. In addition, a research discussion board is available in the password protected area.