Hirst
Professor Links Creativity to Economy
Two
years ago, Hirst Professor Richard Florida
shed light on
a new way to rebuild cities with his best-selling
book, The Rise of the Creative Class: And
How It’s Transforming Work, Community Leisure
and Everyday Life. As he embarks on his first
semester as a public policy professor at George
Mason, Florida remains at the forefront of
the urban revitalization debate.
 He
recently spoke
on National Public Radio’s
(NPR) Morning Edition about the growing
role of creativity in our economy -- a theme
of
his book.
Essentially
Florida has proposed that cities must obtain a balance of technology,
talent and tolerance to prosper. His ideas
about what is required today differ drastically
from the factors that developers considered in the past. Urban planners
have
often focused on making “cities have safe streets and good schools; they
wanted to attract families,” he said on NPR.
|
|
 |
That strategy doesn’t work in today’s economy,
Florida explained. “Cities have to invest in science
and technology and universities and in research capabilities.
Cities have to be places that grow talent, that attract
talent, that nurture talent and that become exciting
for talented and creative people. And, thirdly, they
have to be tolerant,” he said. “They
have to be actively seeking to be diverse and
inclusive and open.”
The Rise of the Creative
Class was awarded the Political Book Award for
2002 by the Washington
Monthly. Moreover,
cities and regions across the United States
and around the world have embraced Florida’s
ideas.
 |
|
Florida
is the former Heinz Professor of Economic Development
at Carnegie
Mellon, where he also headed the Software Industry
Center. He has been a visiting professor at
MIT and Harvard University’s Kennedy
School of Government. In addition, he is founder
and
principal of two companies, The
Creativity Group, an innovative communications and strategies
team,
and Catalytix, a strategy-consulting firm. |
Florida, who earned his Bachelor's degree from Rutgers
College and his Ph.D. from Columbia University, is
currently working on his next book, The Flight of
the Creative
Class, which examines the global competition for
talent.
|
Return to
Currents Story Listing
|
|
|
|
