Cities as a Source of Recovery from the Economic Crisis of 2008, Part I
Throughout history, cities have been the impetus for innovation and prosperity. This is where ideas started that transformed the cultural, economic and political environment globally in the past and presumably in the future. Granted, the Internet is a vehicle for sharing ideas, but implementation of concepts is not done in virtual space, but in real time and real space. If you examine where ideas happened in the past at such centers as Florence, London, Paris, New York, ‘Silicon Valley’ (the greater San Jose area) and Curitiba, Brazil, one will find that there were commonalities that resulted in the spread of this wealth to other locations. What made these places an ‘initiator’ in the philosophy of ‘fractal change” and ultimately prosperity? We have to inspect these places and determine if they ‘shed some light’ on what are the prerequisites for creating ‘fractals’ that will transform urban areas again into loci of growth and prosperity? Juxtaposing the dynamic nature of these ur...