ABSTRACT
In the mid-2000s, Toronto developed a marketing punch line, or brand identity for itself that it called "Toronto Unlimited". Toronto funds nonprofit cultural activities and entities through the Toronto Arts Council, which then re-grants the funds to city organizations, projects, and individual artists. One of the challenges faced by Toronto in the 2000s was the advent of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Although ultimately the death toll from the disease in Toronto was only 44 people, the impact on the tourism industry and the fear that spread through the media were substantial. A key concept regarding the thinking to which Toronto turned in crafting the new vision was the creative cities rhetoric circulating in the urban planning and economic development discourse. Toronto developed national and international prominence in a number of creative clusters, including design, new media, film and television production, performing arts, publishing, and music and sound recording.
