Tara Vinodrai

Tara Vinodrai is Professor in the Institute for Management and Innovation at the University of Toronto, where she also directs the Master of Urban Innovation program. She holds a graduate appointment to the Department of Geography and Planning and a cross-appointment to the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Trained as an economic geographer, Dr. Vinodrai studies contemporary urban change with a focus on the roles of innovation, economic development, labour markets, governance and technology.

 Dr. Vinodrai’s recent work explores the post-pandemic city; clusters and entrepreneurial ecosystems; housing affordability and the urban economy; the cultural economy of cities; and the impact, adoption and use of artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies in emerging and traditional sectors. With the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, she is co-lead on a project that maps the potential impact of US tariffs on cities and neighbourhoods across Canada.

 Her work has appeared in Economic Geography, Regional Studies, Big Data and Society, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Planning Practice and Research, the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, and the Journal of the American Planning Association, amongst others. She co-edited The Millennial City: Trends, Implications and Prospects for Urban Planning and Policy (Routledge, 2018) and Canadian Cities in Transition (Oxford University Press, 2020), which received an Award of Planning Excellence Merit from the Canadian Institute of Planners. Her interdisciplinary research has also won awards from the American Planning Association, the Association of American Geographers, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and the Academy of Management. She serves on the editorial boards of Local Economy and the Canadian Journal of Regional Science.

 Dr. Vinodrai’s expertise has shaped and informed public policy across Canadian cities, particularly in the realms of economic development and innovation. She is regularly called upon to advise governments and other organizations on matters related to the competitiveness and prosperity of cities and regions in Canada and internationally.