Map data ©2015 Google. Google Maps. Google Earth. Seattle.

“Vancouver and Seattle, sharing cultural identities, look for an edge together.” Both cities are Pacific Northwest coastal cities with eco-conscious populations. These metropolitans entertain their communities with nearby ski slopes, kayaking and glorious summers. However, 140 miles of traffic-filled roads and an international border divide the two cities, keeping them further apart than their cultural, social and geographical similarities.

Today the political, academic and tech elite of both Vancouver and Seattle are trying to find ways to connect the two cities in order to collaborate and continue the growth of “two of the the most vibrant economies in North America.” (The New York Times, Oct. 2 2016)

“Vancouver has a lot more in common with Seattle than we do with Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, anywhere else in our country,” Christy Clark, the premier of British Columbia, said in an interview. “We should make the most of those cultural commonalities.”

The anthropocentric and technocentric view of this connection lies primary and simply on the fact that the connection would bring Vancouver a technological advancement as the city would have bigger tech ambitions. This would enable the working population to gain knowledge and insights from the high-end American technology, in hopes of revolving out future entrepreneurs who will expand the city’s comparatively small base of technology companies. Furthermore, Seattle would gain connections within Canada as well as primary skills such as highly ranked education, transportation, innovations, business partnerships and entrepreneurship.

On the 20th of September 2016 at 10:50am on GeekWire, Brad Smith, Microsoft president and chief legal officer, and Telus Executive Vice President Josh Blair discussed the Cascadia Corridor between Vancouver and Seattle. During the emerging Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference (CICC) Blair stated that, ” {…} I believe we truly can turn the Cascadia Corridor into a global innovation leader, and I believe we can give Silicon Valley a run for its money and a run for its talent…”, demonstrating what anthropocentric and technocentric benefits the corridor would have on both metropolitans.

However, the ecocentric view of the virtual corridor or connection canal lays on the discussed technology innovation happening in Vancouver, as the start-ups of these technology based businesses or companies lead to great environmental impacts such as climate change. According to the scientific community, climate change is happening and its effects will have severe consequences for our society and environment. Reducing energy use in buildings is one of the most important ways to reduce humans’ overall environmental impact.

“Climate scientists have theorized that human civilization is in danger of crossing a threshold or “tipping point” that could lead to more radical changes in the global climate, and that could accelerate the onset of either a new “hotter and wetter” age similar to the Earth’s environment before the appearance of human beings, or a new ice age” (Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change. 2015). The creation of the Cascadia Innovation Corridor would lead to an enormous use of greenhouse gasses, un-recyclable waste disposal and great amounts of CO2 emissions into our atmosphere.

Yet, the importance of the building stage of the virtual corridor is minimal compared to the various conversations, agreements and laws, now enabled to be created, about how Vancouver and Seattle will work together to maintain their shared environments healthy, sustainable and clean.

To conclude, Vancouver and Seattle have many things in common, many complementary strengths, and as Mr. Smith stated in his latest conference, thanks to the new  Emerging Cascadia Innovation Corridor “We also have an opportunity to contribute to a region that is stronger than its individual parts. Working together, we can build a globally competitive 21st century innovation corridor that connects and enhances both regions. This in fact is a unique opportunity to create social and economic opportunity for the nearly 12 million people who live in Washington state and British Columbia today.” (A new Cascadia Innovation Corridor connecting Vancouver and Seattle. Brad Smith. September 12 2016.)

Questions:

1. Do you personally agree with the idea of creating Tech Corridors in order to connect facilities or even company cites? Why/Why not?
2. Do you think that the more big enterprises are connected amongst other, the more competition there will be between them?
3. To what extent do you believe that Vancouver and Seattle share cultural identities and will the creation of new tech corridors hinder their few diversities?

Citations:

1. @MSFTissues. “An Idea Whose Time Has Come: A New Cascadia Innovation Corridor Connecting Vancouver and Seattle – Microsoft on the Issues.” Microsoft on the Issues. N.p., 21 Sept. 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.
2. “BC and Washington State Working Together.” Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.
3. “Environmental Issues in Construction – Green Building Solutions.” Green Building Solutions. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.
4. NICK WINGFIELD. Next Big Tech Corridor? Between Seattle and Vancouver, Planners Hope. NY TIMES, 2 Oct. 2016. Web.