RICHARD FLORIDA

THE RISE OF THE CREATIVE CLASS

Richard Florida is the Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University. He is best known for his work in developing his concept of the creative class and its ramifications in urban regeneration . He is the author of the bestselling book The Rise of the Creative Class and its successor The Flight of the Creative Class.

Florida's theory asserts that metropolitan regions with high concentrations of high-tech workers, artists, musicians, gay men, and a group he describes as "high bohemians" , correlate with a higher level of economic development than in cities and regions that are lacking these. He suggests that attracting and retaining high-quality talent -- rather than building large job-creation infrastructure projects such as sports stadiums, iconic buildings, shopping centres -- would be a better primary use of a city's regeneration resources for long-term prosperity.

Florida has devised his own ranking systems that rate cities by a "bohemian index," a "gay index," a "diversity index" and other similar categories. His conclusions are partly based on the results from these indices.

Florida's theories are the source of both praise and controversy. Florida has been attacked by all sides of the political spectrum, and by both academics and journalists. His ideas have also proved to be influential on those heading regeneration in cities in the USA and Europe.

Bibliographic details for "Richard Florida"

• Page name: Richard Florida
• Author: Wikipedia contributors
• Publisher: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
• Date of last revision: 3 November 2006 05:35 UTC
• Date retrieved: 9 November 2006 10:32 UTC
• Permanent link: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Florida&oldid=85419495