Dense cities: Is Richard Florida right?

Having just listened to an interview between Paul Kedrosky and Richard Florida on Infectious Talk recorded last month, I felt compelled to address in rather short-handed blog form, some of the issues the gentlemen discuss.

While Professor Florida's insights have led to stimulating discussions about cities and the impact of geography and mobility and human "behaviour" on the economy,the questions related to how we might optimize productivity and creativity in geographic regions that he and so many socio-economists seek to answer with mathematical theory, strike me as somewhat rhetorical in nature--answered by the masses with their feet and bank accounts.

Human beings know where their utopias are, or at least what they "ought" to look like. And these utopias, depending upon a culture's shared socially constructed worldview, look quite similar to one another.

An unfortunate result, perhaps, of a more and more homongenized globalization is that while we may, as human beings, come to understand one another better and communicate more easily, we have diluted and are continuing to dilute the very diversity that helps to stimulate innovation. An irony inherent to university and college communities is that higher education reflects a form of diversity--often augmented by a flow of international students migrating around the world-- while that same diverse community is forced into homogeny by such things as measurement and rankings--be they city rankings or academic rankings (fueled by testing boards). Even the imposition of the English language, while opening dialogue, destroys diversity and for now--decreases clarity of much communication and knowledge sharing.

We are attracted to medium-sized communities like Boulder, Colorado or Austin, Texas because the communities are accessible yet rich in diversity and stimulation. We can comprehend what the community contains. Moreover, these places are situated in physically attractive terrain which draws a natural human response to the land and nature--mountains, lakes, trees. A keen desire to preserve these environments drives municipal governments to establish preservation laws, signage laws, building laws, and these things actually increase the community's attractiveness and drive up costs. The increased costs however are not usually driven by the market as much as by the increase in tax values on property (artificially imposed and therefore driving so-called regentrification). Another irony--or perhaps merely paradox. Can Boulder or Austin become too large? Absolutely? Would cities do well to shrink? Absolutely.

But what of the argument that the cost of energy and infrastructure is too high to allow for multiple diffused population centers that are under 500,000?

Well, first, while it is true that 50% of the world's population live in large urban centers, the other 50% all live in centers under 500,000. So which way do we want to tip the scale and why?

Second, there are reasons why energy costs more today than 15 years ago and it has little to do with the cost of productivity (except to the extent that we are building larger and larger homes and consuming more and wasting more). The energy industry, since deregulation, has driven up the cost of energy to sustain a virtual market tied to the buying and trading of electricity. We should ask what the re-regulation of the industry, some levels of protectionism of resources, and elimination of trading, and even of some, though not all, energy grids, would do to our cities and to the costs of energy. It might be interesting to see the kinds of energy innovations created in lands where the grids are not yet constructed--grids that will likely depend primarily on older technologies--albeit improved.

High density population centers, at some point, become uncomfortable. Tall buildings are aesthetically unappealing to those who live in their shadows (the buildings often look good from a distance as a part of a landscape--narrated into popularity by the architects and promoted by the realestate developer to gain the highest percentage return on rents and sales). City planners for the City of Paris since the time of the Industrial Revolution understood something about the aesthetic of scale when it insisted on its center being restricted to buildings under 8-10 stories high. Unfortunately, there is now talk to allow skyskrapers (other than the long-disputed Montparnasse) into the city center, despite the fact that Paris is the number one tourist city in the world--attracting human beings because of its organized and well-planned streets and architecture. Seven stories, to my mind, is an even better number for many reasons-- practical, aesthetic, and even philosophical or spiritual if you will. But that must remain for another discussion.

Today we can build the kinds of transport systems that we dreamed about 50 years ago, at less than half the cost--with better and safer materials: monorails, light rails, quiet roads, alternatively fueled cars and trucks. (Electric cars have been possible for many years, but we know that they have become more interesting to those who control the supply of power, so of course we will see advertising by large utility companies promoting their development and use).

The kinds of communities that people are attracted to are those that have "old towns" in them. Those that are far-sighted and modern without being tributes to functionalism for functionalism's sake. Those that have large parks, hills, rocks, varied terrains, and yet maintain some kind of order to sublimate the chaos that we often create of our lives. Those that protect the past and tradition, echo patterns that remind us of our history and traditions and who we might be, while striving to see a future that is even better.

City-centers are attractive for the life they project, but life does not mean sheer chaos like something reminiscent of a Hogarth engraving.

The key to quality of life and well-built environments is empathy, awareness of others' motivations, sensitivity to nature, repression of ego, expression of beauty in that rather Bottin-like sublime sense, and a complete elimination of the kind of greed and lack of ethic that has come to define capitalism and free markets today. Market drive does not mean that which industry shoves into the hands of consumers who can barely find time to educate themselves or even to find alternative choices if they wanted them. Market drive means competing with quality goods, not mediocrity. And market drive means allowing end users to dictate prices of goods, not artificially driven internal and virtual markets that prevent consumers from ever having a say about their own purchasing power. Perhaps we should not only shrink cities, but shrink or eliminate certain markets or market instruments themselves. Downsize and dimunize. Less really can be more.

Barriers to planning

There are two people, among many, I admire. Normally one wouldn't necessarily speak about these two in the same sentence or context, but their combined experiences reflect the kinds of qualities that anyone needs to reach some form of success in life. When I was a teenager, I used to actually confuse these two individuals with each other--just because their names began with the sound of Zig.

Florenz Ziegfeld, who had a short but incredibly full life, loved show business. Founder of the Ziegfeld Follies (whose last member Doris Eaton Travis died this year at the age of 106), he said of "his" girls: "And, I may add, from what totally unexpected sources come many of those who from the comparatively modest beginning in the chorus rise to the heights of really great achievement in the theatrical profession."

Regardless of one's profession or pursuits, it is helpful to remember that greatness comes out of modest beginnings and the only obstacles that prevent an individual from success--can be summed up in Zig Ziglar's words when he reminds his audiences that
"Every sale has 5 basic obstacles: No Need, No Money, No Hurry, No Desire, and No Trust."

Whether we are trying to sell an idea, product or business or trying to assess our own abilities and self-worth to find motivation, we cannot succeed without at least clearing three of these: need, desire, and trust.

Women's Entrepreneurship

While I am never sure what it means to put the word "woman" in front of something in order to establish clarity or meaning, I do know that men and women express themselves differently--because society has shown them how to do so AND because there are likely a few chromosomal influences in the internal wiring which we may uncover fully at some time in someone's future.

In the meantime, there are interesting sites to explore out there that should be, ideally, as interesting to men as they might be to women.

Take a look at Women Entrepreneurs Grow Global for instance. Several of the contributors are colleagues of mine from Chicago.

Entrepreneurial Journeys

Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant, Sramana Mitra, has compiled 4 volumes of short interviews she has conducted with individuals who have started companies and projects. Through their stories one can gain inspiration and guidance. A nice collection of mini-cases, you can read the invidual interviews from Entrepreneur Journeys at Ms. Mitra's site
.

Ms. Mitra has also started a program known as "One Million by One Million" that seeks to help companies reach a million in revenues. You can attend the weekly 1M/1M roundtable on the web and listen to the sessions between Ms. Mitra and 3-4 entrepreneurs from around the globe, all at various stages of growth. She guides them along a strategic discussion and provides next steps and advice. Some of the typical issues discussed include bootstrapping, raising money, validating the business model, gaining focus/clarifying their story, marketing, distribution, etc. The audience can learn a lot from these often animated discussions. The 1M/1M Strategy Roundtable is open to all entrepreneurs - both to attend and to present. The schedule for the upcoming meetings through September is as follows:

Today Thursday, August 26, 2010, 10am United States Central Standard Time (CST) or 1700 Stockholm time (GMT+1)
Thursday, September 2, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 9, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 16, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 23, 2010, 10 a.m. CST
Thursday, September 30, 2010, 10 a.m. CST

Petrological innovation for short term gain

More often than not, entrepreneurs are encouraged to develop long-term strategies for growth. Sometimes, however, it is possible to develop a short-term strategy for a short-term gain--without risking large up-front capital investment. Ten years ago, very few Internet users had ever heard of the Pet Rock. I enjoyed referring to it in courses as an example of a product innovation using one of the world's oldest resources which was "re-saleable" via a simple, inexpensive, but highly pathos-loaded marketing campaign. Today, one can find references to the rock on pop-sites, inventor sites, and on wikipedia.

The Pet Rock (which I bought for my father for Christmas in 1975 when I was the ripe age of 18)serves as a reminder that nearly anything is marketable--giving the right time, place, and message. The entrepreneur must have a sixth sense (empathy) for customer needs (perceived or real) and be able to identify the seize the moment when time, place, and message can converge or be converged.

Gary Dahl, innovator and seller of the Pet Rock, was interviewed by National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States in 2000. Listen.

Today, 35 years on, the Pet Rock is making a comeback--relying on the nostalgia market. Martin Abrams, formerly an executive of Mega Corporation (no longer in existence), bought the rights to "Pet Rock" and has relaunched them via his company I-Star Entertainment.

Library of Economics and Liberty

A resource for entrepreneurship students seeking books, articles and other resources can be found at the Library of Economics and Liberty based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The site is supported by a private organisation called the Liberty Fund, started in 1960 by Pierre F. Goodrich (1894-1973) which is an objective, open, and non-political forum for exchange of ideas.

Idea Competition 2010 Winners

"The ninth annual MIT IDEAS Competition celebrated student achievement on Monday evening, May 3, at MIT's Raymond and Maria Stata Center. Seven student teams received IDEAS awards to implement their projects over the next year. IDEAS — which stands for Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Action and Service — recognizes student teams that have developed outstanding projects that apply invention as a public service. Each award, funded by a corporate or individual sponsor, will enable a team to develop their prototype into a working solution in collaboration with community partners around the world."

All of the winners are described on the MIT Public Service Center, but here is one of the business ideas posted there:

"PerfectSight was awarded the $5,000 Award sponsored by the Lemelson-MIT Program. Team members Chika Ekeji, Margaret McKenna, Ankit Mohan, and Vitor Pamplona designed an innovative, mobile system for diagnosing refractive eye conditions for under $1 using cell phones."

Top 20 Entrepreneur Groups on LinkedIn

These are the top 20 LinkedIn Groups for Entrepreneurs according to Bradley Will.

Twelve years ago, a search for "entrepreneur" might have led to several thousand results on Google (or perhaps InfoSeek).
Today, the search (just in English mind you) leads to 33,200,000 results. "Innovation" leads to 103 million results.

Navigating and assessing the information available is daunting. If you have top 10 lists to share regarding entrepreneurship, feel free to share them here!