A global pandemic impacts everything we do as economic developers – but it could be argued that downtowns have been impacted the most. In this episode of Insight, we'll take a look at the purpose and practice of downtown revitalization from both sides of COVID-19, featuring interviews with professionals from both before and after the onset of the pandemic.

From major development projects to tactical urbanism, downtown revitalization seeks to improve the vitality and vibrancy of the central business district of a given city, town or region with the goal of supporting, sustaining and accentuating its unique character and culture. In practice, approaches vary as different communities come up with different solutions. But COVID-19 is a challenge that has affected all downtowns. When downtowns are empty and businesses are forced to close, what is the impact? And now that businesses are reopening, what has changed? We ask these questions, discuss the value of downtowns, and learn about some of the initiatives designed to help main street businesses adapt to a post-pandemic world.

Insight: Canada's Economic Development Podcast is presented by MDB Insight and produced by Derek Harrison. Our guests for Episode 5 are Chris Rickett, Director of COVID-19 Business Mitigation and Recovery at City of Toronto, Andrew Malcolm, Urban Revitalization Manager at the City of Lethbridge, and Gary Klassen, Senior Advisor with Canadian Strategy. Each episode explores the economic development field in Canada, celebrates the work of professionals across the country, features news and thought leadership from across Canada and digs into some of the most interesting (and important) topics in economic development.