Monthly Archives: May 2010

Found at http://endlessinnovation.typepad.com/endless_innovation/2010/05/innovation-lessons-from-the-great-reset.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EndlessInnovation+%28Endless+Innovation%29

Ever since the publication of The Rise of the Creative Class in 2002, Richard Florida has been at the forefront of the national debate about the role of the creative class — writers and artists as well as white-collar knowledge workers — in urban revitalization, regional economic development and the future of our cities. If you’re living or working in a city that has created a district that resembles New York City‘s SoHo or TriBeCa (loft living, lots of creative types, cafes and funky shops), you can thank Richard Florida.

Florida’s latest book, The Great Reset, offers up a future vision for America after the housing and financial crises exposed the contradictions and weaknesses in our current economy. Arguing that the current economic period more closely resembles the Long Depression of the 1870′s rather than the Great Depression of the 1930′s, Florida lays out a prescriptive mix for what policy makers, innovators and urban planners should be embracing over the next few years. The “new normal” will include less conspicuous consumption, less emphasis on massive suburban sprawl, and new thinking about transportation (i.e. more emphasis on high-speed rail).

There are several ideas and concepts in The Great Reset that really resonated with me:

(1) Every economic crisis has a “spatial fix.” In other words, the Long Depression of the 1870′s resulted in the transformation of America from an agrarian society to an urban society with large manufacturing cities while the Great Depression resulted in the transformation of America from an urban society to a massive, sprawling suburban/exurban society. What’s next? Florida argues that we are about to witness the rise of massive “mega-regions” like Bos-Wash (the Northeast Corridor from Boston to Washington) and “Chi-Pitts” (the corridor from Chicago to Pittsburgh). Holding these mega-regions together will be high-speed rail lines.

(2) The service industry is America’s most important source of future innovation.

To be continued at http://endlessinnovation.typepad.com/endless_innovation/2010/05/innovation-lessons-from-the-great-reset.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EndlessInnovation+%28Endless+Innovation%29

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