Researchers, Peter J. Rentfrow of the University of Cambridge in England, Charlotta Mellander of the Jönköping International Business School in Sweden and Richard Florida (of “The Creative Class” fame) of the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, used data from Gallup’s well-being index to figure out which states are happier than others.
Richard Florida asserts that the world is “spiky”-with talent, innovation and creativity clustering in mega-regions that are increasingly powerful drivers of the global economy.
Richard Florida discusses the rise of “means metros” in an article on McKinsey & Co.’s blog. These are the urban areas that in recent decades have gathered a disproportionate share of America’s most talented workers. Seattle is among this elite few.
In his best-selling book, Who’s Your City?, Dr. Florida argues that the world is a “spiky place”, characterized by a concentration of economic activity, innovation, and resulting prosperity in a relatively small number of urban hotspots around the planet.
The merging of the Noosa Creative Alliance and the Sunshine Coast to create the Sunshine Coast Regional Alliance in Noosa, Australia.
Richard Florida’s research on mega-regions provides a potentially useful framework for thinking about where and how to invest in a national high-speed rail system.
Transportation infrastructure plays a big role in economic development by opening up new spaces and by allowing for the redevelopment of old spaces in more intensive ways.
Richard Florida overlays the proposed high speed rail network on his map of megaregions and makes some very good points.
Florida’s public policy-makers must recognize that mega-regions are the engines of the newglobal economy. They must support Florida’s mega — the 15th largest in the world.
New Hampshire and Maine — from Portland south — are considered the “northern edge” of the 500-mile Boston-Washington, D.C., corridor that Richard Florida, author and professor at the University of Toronto’s Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, has found generates $2.2 trillion in economic activity.
