The geographic clustering of economic activity has long been understood in terms of economies of scale across space. This paper introduces the construct of geographies of scope, which we argue is driven by substantial, large-scale geographic concentrations of related skills, inputs and capabilities. We examine this through an empirical analysis of the entertainment industry across US metropolitan areas from 1970 to
2000.
China is currently seeking to transform its economic structure from a traditional industrial to a more innovative, human-capital driven, and knowledge-based economy. Our research examines the effects of three key factors on Chinese regional development in an attempt to gauge to what degree China has transformed from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy, based on higher
levels of (1) technology and innovation, (2) human capital and knowledge/professional/creative
occupations, and (3) factors like tolerance, universities, and amenities which act on the flow of the first two. We employ structural equation models to gauge the effects of these factors on the economic performance of Chinese regions. Our research generates four key findings.
This special issue publishes some of the interesting work that is going on within the creative economy research field. This concept of the creative economy has been the focus of our own
research for more than a decade. The most fundamental level building block of the creative economy is, of course, creative individuals. Richard Florida’s The Rise of the Creative Class
(2002) illustrated that every single human being has creative potential, and discussed the economic value of such creative individuals for innovation in industry. At the industry level,
“creative industries” has been the terminology to describe industries where individual creativity is systematically harnessed to achieve high levels of innovation, namely, high-tech industries with a high R&D or programming component, as well as cultural industries such as
entertainment or design (Caves, 2000; Throsby, 2001; Hesmondhalgh, 2002).
It is a mindset–nimble, adaptive, and outside-the-universe–that has transformed an entire city, shifting Medellin, Colombia’s status from the ‘World’s Most Dangerous City’ to the ‘World’s Most Innovative City.’
This paper examines the geographic variation in wage inequality and income inequality across US metros. The findings indicate that the two are quite different. Wage inequality is closely associated with skills, human capital,technology and metro size, in line with the literature, but these factors are only weakly associated with income inequality. Furthermore, wage inequality explains only 15% of income inequality across metros. Income inequality is more closely associated
with unionization, race and poverty. No relationship is found between income inequality and average incomes and only a modest relationship between it and the percentage of high-income households.
Rana Florida interviews First Lady Michelle Obama to ask her some important questions about leadership, collaboration and the balancing act of family, work and life. Her answers and insights reinforce her determination to get the job done.
The second annual Start-Up City: Miami event, sponsored by The Atlantic, The Atlantic Cities, the Knight Foundation and the Creative Class Group convened venture capitalists, leading thinkers, and start-up founders yesterday to discuss entrepreneurialism and to share tips and expertise on successful startups.
Back for a second year, Start-Up City: Miami, presented by The Atlantic and The Atlantic Cities, will explore the national urban tech revolution and its impact on South Florida. The Miami Herald spoke with Florida last year about his views on building a tech hub here, and they decided to find out how he thinks Miami is doing now. They also wanted to get the lowdown on Start-Up City (Version 2.0).
Richard Florida, spoke at Populus 2014 Friday at the State Theatre in Downtown Kalamazoo. Populus is a one-day event focused on helping change policy making and decision making in communities.
Rapidly growing Asia will be better served by a system of cities – not a
dominant city, but many competitive cities.
High tech startups are taking an urban turn. This is a new development. While large urban centers have historically been sources of venture capital, the high tech startups they funded were mainly, if not exclusively, located in suburban campuses in California’s Silicon Valley, Boston’s Route 128 corridor, the Research Triangle of North Carolina, and in the suburbs of Austin and Seattle. But high tech development, startup activity, and venture investment have recently begun to shift to urban centers and also to close-in, mixed-use, transit-oriented walkable suburbs. This report, which is based on unique data from the National Venture Capital Association, Thompson Reuters and Dow Jones, examines this emergent urban shift in high tech startup activity and venture capital investment.
Rana Florida’s recent book, Upgrade, brings perspective to the growth hack fix. Upgrade suggests that if technology entrepreneurs don’t change the way they view growth and success, a “growth hack” can only have so much impact.
Miami needs to invest in developing its talent, keeping its talent and attracting new talent. It needs to be a place to spur new inventions, discoveries and ideas. And it is in that spirt in which we launched, Start-Up City: Miami in partnership with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Atlantic Cities and the Creative Class Group.
Denver is a perfect example of how the post-Great Recession economy works through an “urban revolution” that brings creative people close together, taking advantage of economies of scale, bestselling author Richard Florida recently said at the Rocky Mountain City Summit in Denver.
The Globe and Mail asks Richard Florida to pinpoint the most crucial principles for building a better city.
Consultant Rana Florida shows you how to live the first-best life you want, stop living in a state of “managed dissatisfaction” and “upgrade” your life by doing what you love.
Detroit’s fall from grace–from its ruins porn to its obesity rankings, from its crime rate to its bankruptcy–has all been exposed in the lurid glare of publicity. But I am constantly defending the Motor City. No campaign has captured the spirit and soul of the everyday people who live and work in the city –until, that is, the Detroit-based watch, bicycle, and leather goods manufacturing company Shinola choose the legendary photographer Bruce Weber to capture the essence of the city for it’s newest campaign.
March 8th marks International Women’s Day, a time to celebrate the tremendous gains that women have achieved, whether in access to reproductive health care and education or in their increasing visibility in the executive suites of corporations and at the top levels of governments. But it’s also a day to acknowledge how much still needs to be done.
e should all be advocating for a healthy lifestyle, with a good diet and sufficient exercise. Obesity is a serious health issue that should not be celebrated or accepted. It is not okay to teach young woman to be comfortable with a lifestyle that can lead to the second leading cause of preventable death in the US today.
In this latest Creative Entertaining, you can find some easy tips to make your own Oscar celebration a winner.
The MBA used to be a pre-requisite for a corporate job, a ticket to a high salary, more or less for life. But our economy has shifted; corporate loyalty has waned and those once coveted jobs, are both harder to come by and far less secure. The MBA remains more or less the same but a new kind of MBA is required to prepare students for these new volatile, uncertain economic currents. The emphasis needs to be less on getting a job and more on creating jobs for yourself and others.
In the following interview, Florida talks about the latest workplace and economic trends affecting business owners and employees, the impact of technology and automation, why we need a new social compact and gives his best career advice.
Live the first-best life you want, stop living in a state of “managed dissatisfaction” and “upgrade” your life by doing what you love.
London has emerged from nearly a century of British decline to take its place at the very apex of global capitalism cannot be denied. In an era in which cities have become the principle organizing units of the global economy, London stands head and
shoulders above all but a handful of its urban peers.3 New investments have turned East London’s Tech City into a centre of start-up and venture capital activity. Talent has the most expensive places on the planet to live.
The Ontario government was right to raise its minimum wage, and to introduce legislation that would peg future increases to inflation. But the new legislation should also take into account the significant differences in costs of living across the province. It should include provisions to index the minimum wage on a geographic basis.
This Creative Entertaining video suggests some different ways you can show some love, whether you’re single, married, or dating this Red Hot Valentine’s Day.
Who are the thought leaders shaping today’s discourse on the future of society and the economy? Whose ideas are defining and changing our lives? GDI has measured the influence of the world’s most important thinkers and presents the “Global Thought Leader Map”.
Buying a home today may not be the life-long investment it has been in the past.
This latest Creative Entertaining video suggests some fun ideas to add to the fun of the 2014 Winter Olympic games.
The mega-city has become the nerve centre of one of the world’s greatest mega- regions, a trans-border economic powerhouse that stretches from Buffalo to Quebec City. It’s important to recognize this, because mega-regions have replaced the nation state as the economic drivers of the global economy.
In this latest Creative Entertaining video, here are a few suggested ways to throw your own Super Bowl party at home.
As thousands of industry execs and hundreds of headliners gather at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this Sunday evening for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, over 26 million of us will be tuning in. What better time to host a viewing party for friends and family? In this latest Creative Entertaining video, here are some simple tips to make this star studded affair shine at home.
The rise of the ‘creative class’ as the motor of economic growth means that countries which promote technology, talent and tolerance will do best. Will this lead to higher inequality? Not necessarily argues Richard Florida.
Anna Runyan of Classy Career Girl interviews Rana Florida, the author of Upgrade: Taking Your Work and Life from Ordinary to Extraordinary.
The Institute for Human Activities is a research project that is located on a tributary of the Congo River, in the Democratic Republic of Congo hoping to create an international arts center and call attention to and study the gap that exists between the benefits that art production confers on the places where it is created and on the big global cities.
The best seller Upgrade gathers the best practices from CEO’s,business executives, entrepreneurs, innovative thinkers, and creative leaders.
In her book ‘Upgrade’ the author Rana Florida puts forward seven key principles for leading a successful life.
Zappos, the Internet shoe retailer is eliminating job titles, replacing their traditional corporate bureaucracy with a holocracy, an organization that revolves around the work that needs to be done rather than the people who do it. The goal of team members and colleagues is to add value, skills and expertise. Managers can and should enable and even unleash their people, but they cannot control them.
The eight-part film series called “Unlock Art,” developed by London’s Tate Museum in collaboration with Le Méridien Hotels explains the historical and commercial precedents for contemporary art’s development with a whimsical, plain-speak delivery, offering a surprisingly in depth yet easily digestible overview of modern art.
The academic and author explains how creative companies and the venture capital that drives them are increasingly flowing to cities, and what that means for economic and societal development.
What are the most important buildings, products, or events of 2013 that have ramifications for the future?
In this New Year, we need to change our diets and the ways we think about and consume food. But to get there, it has to be a community effort. Here are 10 ways we can all work together to create a fitter, healthier society.
getAbstract recommends Rana Florida’s Upgrade and her insights to those seeking to make positive life choices.
“For a place to harness creativity, it must be open to the creativity of all. Not just techies or the creative class, but everyone,” argues Richard Florida. For the author of The Rise of the Creative Class, openness is a key factor in a city’s economic growth.
Richard Florida discusses how the benefits of having and expanding Toronto’s island airport far exceed the costs.
Business Traveller suggests Rana’s Florida’s Upgrade as one of its books you should read.
”The Creativity index appeared to be one of the best metrics to understand sales performance at Cirque. And correlation are strong, therefor we will be now using this metric to anticipate sales performance and better forecast.
Alexandre AlleMarket Insight Advisor, Cirque du Soleil
