The human gateway: economic development planning, geographic knowledge, and British Columbia's Asia Pacific Initiative

Since the 1980s, there has been strong economic growth in Pacific Asia, an increase in trade between the region and Canada, and corresponding shifts in British Columbia’s economic base and international trade relationships. Facilitated by free trade agreements, these shifts in the political economy of the Pacific Rim have altered the conditions of regional economic development planning: increased inter-regional competition for capital has led to a growth in entrepreneurial planning strategies. This research explores strategies endorsed by BC’s Ministry of Economic Development to capitalize on economic growth in Pacific Asia as articulated in a 2007 planning document called British Columbia: The Asia Pacific Initiative. The thesis notes how this document identifies citizen knowledge, particularly geographic and cultural knowledge, as a key competitive advantage for the province. It concludes that, as trade conditions shift, so too does the relationship between government and citizen knowledge in the planning process.