Comments on: How cities make us smarter: Ed Glaeser at TED2012

By: Why Cities Dominate The Marketing Landscape | Uber Patrol - The Definitive Cool Guide

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:02:42 +0000

[…] interchange. And cities boost the quality of life. As Harvard economist Edward Glaeser has noted, countries in which cities account for more than half of the population have five times higher […]

By: Suburban Cities as New Trend? | Parkway Blog

Suburban Cities as New Trend? | Parkway Blog — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 14:25:01 +0000

[...] a whole industry led by the likes of Harvard’s Ed Glaeser, my occasional sparring partner Richard Florida and developer-funded groups like CEOs for Cities, [...]

By: A Houston Perspective | Ben Ross : Auckland

A Houston Perspective | Ben Ross : Auckland — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 22:44:09 +0000

[...] a whole industry led by the likes of Harvard’s Ed Glaeser, my occasional sparring partnerRichard Florida and developer-funded groups like CEOs for [...]

By: Urban politics: Or, the fall and rise of some American cities? « MVMTBLDG

Urban politics: Or, the fall and rise of some American cities? « MVMTBLDG — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:58:12 +0000

[...] of the “Global City” in the 90s Saskia Sassen. Among them they’ve written about how cities make us smarter and richer, how a true-cost, market-based approach would lead to a healthier and greener “country of [...]

By: Book Review: Triumph of the City - Edward Glaeser

Book Review: Triumph of the City - Edward Glaeser — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 08:02:01 +0000

[...] exchange for a fair and honest review)Related articlesReview: Triumph of the City by Edward GlaeserHow cities make us smarter: Ed Glaeser at TED2012The Triumphant CityJennifer Grayson: Eco Etiquette: Can Our Cities Save Us?Low, Stable Housing [...]

By: How cities make us smarter: Ed Glaeser at TED2012 « Read Centro

How cities make us smarter: Ed Glaeser at TED2012 « Read Centro — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 22:11:22 +0000

[...] Ed Glaeser is a economist at Harvard, and the author of Triumph of the City, and as his business casual look he wears a bow-tie with ice-cream cones. [...]

By: Michael B. Fishbein: The Innovation Challenge | USA Press

Michael B. Fishbein: The Innovation Challenge | USA Press — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:14:23 +0000

[...] opportunity for entrepreneurs by making it easier for people to share ideas and help each other. As Ed Glaser, economist at Harvard, said, “We get smart by being around each [...]

By: Bharti Patel

Bharti Patel — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 20:55:49 +0000

With due respect – how wrong you are about villages especially in India. There is greater human to human interaction, human to ecosystem interaction and a vibrant social and cultural life in Indian villages than in towns. There is a struggling but innovative entrepreneurship in the villages – including a late night cafeteria frequented by local youth very similar to “hanging out at the mall!!!!!, florists, barbers, cycle and agri-equipment repair services, doctors, shops, flour mill, in addition to fresh milk and vegetables delivered to your doorstep. Home grown pulses to include pulses, rice, jowar, millets et. .

The people living in slums including Dharavi, that you refer to, are no doubt innovative and enterprenual because many are from villages who have been forced to leave their land and livelihood due to years of neglect by governments, the private sector and policy makers. Given the right opportunities in villages, many and in particular women, would never opt for a life in slums in towns.
If villages had the attention of policy makers in the way that towns and cities have, Gandhi’s words would indeed be a true reflection of the future of India being in its villages.

By: Theresa Saunders

Theresa Saunders — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 18:41:09 +0000

The idea that cities enable proximity and that supports interactions which result in our “getting smart”, being creative, innovative, and productive is noble; and these things significantly impact any economy. They are also good things if our goal is productivity – either of human capital or of things. It may not be best if we have other goals, such as quality of life concerns. But more to the point…poverty is a thief robbing people of all that would make for anything. It is fueled by hate and that is a problem that must be solved in all environments.

By: Kevin Parcell

Kevin Parcell — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:14:29 +0000

The economic structure that supports the rural lifestyle is destroyed by globalization – the global marketplace with interchangeable currencies and rapid transport accompanying affluence. Thus we have the rise of cities. It does not follow that urbanization is the cause of low infant mortality and high income, etc. In fact if 80% of GDP is produced by 13% of the global population, but 50% live in cities, then cities per se are not the cause of affluence. Perhaps we might be better-off living in a million villages close enough together to support self-reliant local marketplaces, enjoying the connectivity facilitated by IT. This seems likely, given everything we see happening, everything we know. I hope Gandhi was right because it seems clear that the future ought to be in villages. All those people struggling to find meaning in the slums of Mumbai might be happier participating in sustainable local marketplaces in villages, and their children would probably be healthier. Meanwhile the slums grow.