Highly competitive industries are also rapidly-changing ones. Firms need to locate in efficient labor markets in order to reduce the risks associated with quick transformations. The regional employment pool must be both deep and diverse in order for firms to be able to quickly hire new kinds of talent. Firms must innovate to survive the competition. They must “re-tool” to meet the demands of innovation.

Finally, we see that technology, among other major forces, is breaking down the traditional boundaries between city, state, and nation. Some examples of successful city regions in Europe demonstrate the different ways this might play out.

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In Hamburg, Germany they created a city-region plan that both spanned state boundaries and reached beyond the nation. The plan targeted growth in high-tech fields. Despite high regional unemployment they advertised overseas for 50,000 specialized workers, requiring accommodation for both immigrant and native workers.

In Brussels, Belgium the city sponsored creation of its own venture capital funds to spur growth. In the Ile de France -- where Paris is located -- they created a regional strategy to invest in post-secondary education and research to support growth in high-value-added economic sectors. The European Union itself has worked to promote cross-border economic development.

These cities already know what we must come to understand. The border is not a barrier. It is a stimulus for opportunity. We can begin to capitalize on these opportunities as soon as we stop focusing on the border and start thinking about a whole region. It just happens to encompass two national jurisdictions and fortuitously includes an international border which is a catalyst for innovation.

The other assets of the region are very substantial. The region including Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Buffalo, and Rochester, and two cities each named Niagara Falls, is larger in population (about 9 million total) than all of the urban regions in North America except Mexico City, greater New York City, and megalopolitan Los Angeles.

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