Who’s Your City? By Richard Florida

I have move my blog to www.spotalks.com

This article is published in the viewspaper and the link is http://theviewspaper.net/who%e2%80%99s-your-city-by-richard-florida/#more-6198
In 2008, a book “Who’s your city? ISBN 0465003524” was written by Richard Florida, an American urban theorist to challenge the idea of globalization. If someone had read the nonfiction book “The world’s flat” by The New York Times columnist, Thomas L. Friedman and got convinced by his radical ideas on the flattening of the world, then you should definitely read this book to consider the ambivalence of the globalization. To understand the concept of this book, we should first understand the economics of globalization and its ramifications. Globalization has equipped far flung regions from once impoverished like China and India to connect with the west and also eventually challenge them in the creative economy.

In the west, the word “Bangalored” is much hyped for the information technological innovations it provides to them. China is now considered to be the manufacturing hub of the world. Likewise several different places once impoverished are now plugging and playing with the American and European economics. So, the common deduction based on these developments is that the world is getting flatter than before. Moreover, these developments have also led to the sudden spurt of mega cities like Shanghai, Bangalore, Dubai, etc. But Richard Florida in his book has denied the flatness by facts and figures to conclude that the world is rather spiky.

He says where you live in this globalized world actually matters more than before. In his book, he puts forth cogent arguments on how only the spiky regions from USA, UK, Europe, Singapore, China, India, etc. contribute substantially to the economic development of the world. For example, people who stay in Bangalore have more opportunities to create and innovate than anywhere in India in IT sector. Mega regions such as New York, London, Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai and very recently Mumbai compete among themselves for the pie in finance sector. The reforms done in any one of these cities will adversely affect the competition in other cities. The same principles also apply to other sectors like manufacturing, services, and agriculture.

Location is not only important in economic benefits in the creative economy but also for the other lifestyle purpose. Large population of single people in a place naturally attracts other single people from different regions to flock to that place. For example, there is usually a proliferation of night clubs and pubs where there is large number of single people.

Richard Florida’s insights on the location are interestingly important and make sense in Indian context when we face lack of political will to proactively fulfill the infrastructure in our megacities. His book explores important decisions every human being makes in his/her life like where to live, how to live, whom to live with. But most people tend to focus less on the location of their living. He explains where to live is the most important decision of the life since everything else comes on the way. It is also true in Indian context, like for example if you decide to succeed in the world of finance then you should probably choose to go to Mumbai to gauge the competition and hone your skills for the job. But if you do not go to Mumbai and clamor for the success then it is a distant dream. So, Location is the most important thing in this information rich world.

Richard Florida might have convinced people on the economic opportunities that each city provides but he didn’t ponder much on the economic impact of this congregation. He gave very little focus on the policies of why this urban area particularly attracts certain people. Some things will always be dependent on physical proximity, but it would seem that industries which can take advantage of the new electronic mobility will be growth industries. As for the people who love the peace and tranquility of the countryside or village Richard Florida’s “Who’s your City” is exuberantly urban minded. Nevertheless, this book is worth a read for people who love urban life and want to know which city will better qualify for their requirements.