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Mayor Don Iveson kicked off his re-election campaign Wednesday evening saying he is “betting on Edmonton” and running to make the city fiercely competitive in business.

“The economy is going to be my top priority,” he said, laying out a new plan for an “innovation corridor” along the LRT line between the Northern Institute of Technology, downtown and the University of Alberta.

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Empty offices downtown can be repurposed to provide start-up space and room to grow. Key leaders in the technology and artificial intelligence sector already want to move, he said, pointing to the university’s Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and the recently announced new Google DeepMind research lab.

“It’s talent driven. … Those people want to be located centrally,” Iveson said, explaining why these must be geographically concentrated. “This is what I’ve heard from the researchers.”

Iveson held his launch party at La Cite Francophone in Bonnie Doon, saying its redevelopment and urban feel is something he wants to see replicated in neighbourhoods across the city. Here, the coming Valley Line LRT is expected to spur the redevelopment of Bonnie Doon Mall. Regency Developments wants to put 1,200 homes beside the planned Holyrood station.