Leading urbanist calls for city innovation to be a federal priority

The Coalition for Urban Innovation has formed to offer “a unique voice” in the US infrastructure debate as a bill to provide US$550 billion in new funding for roads, broadband, public transit and environmental resilience advances.

The founding members, comprising more than a dozen organisations and advisors from the public, private and non-profit sectors, include Sidewalk Labs, Smart Cities Council, Accelerator for America and Via Transportation.

Urbanist, professor and author Richard Florida is among the advisory board members. He tells Cities Today more about the goals of the new alliance.

Sarah Wray (SW): Why do you think an alliance like the Coalition for Urban Innovation is needed right now?

Richard Florida (RF): I think urban innovation is moving along nicely. My own research shows urban innovation and urban tech to be among the largest and fastest-growing areas of venture capital start-up investment globally. And of course, as we move from the older industrial economy to the emerging knowledge economy – cities and clusters of diverse, talented people and other economic assets – are replacing the factory and the corporation as the key organising unit or platform for innovation and economic growth.

Right now, this is happening on its own, driven by the private sector and locally via public-private partnerships.

But the federal government can and must do more – streamlining regulatory and other blockages and investing in cutting-edge technology and local partnerships. Today, urban policy and urban innovation policy must be elevated to a central plank of economic policy.

The related point is that the US had huge leads in previous technologies, from hardware, semiconductors and software to biotech, artificial intelligence (AI) and more. But the US now faces serious competition from China and others on these technologies.

SW: Infrastructure, including digital technology, is often a long-term investment. What potential do you see for innovation in how technology is funded – for example, through public-private partnerships or other models?

RF: Yes, public-private partnerships. Something like what the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), National Science Foundation (NSF) and other agencies did for computer science, software, the internet and AI, but with a focus on the suite of technologies that make up urban tech and urban innovation.

It should be funded by the federal government, but take shape locally around leading-edge research universities, clusters or networks of companies, local economic development organisations, and public-private partnerships.

SW: Cities are at a pivotal moment coming out of the pandemic and the US in particular, with major infrastructure investment on the table. Which areas particularly excite you in terms of how cities could be improved or even reimagined? 

RF: Cities will survive and thrive. But the key shift we are seeing involves the shift to remote work. Like previous technologies – street railways, commuter trains and transit, and of course cars – remote work technology stretches the boundaries of cities and metro areas, allowing a subset of workers to live and work in more remote rural areas.

It also enables us to remake central business districts as more integrated and vibrant live-work places and to reinvigorate our dormitory suburbs and rural areas as places for remote work.  But the reality is remote work is not just done in the home.

It’s done in coffee shops, libraries, co-working facilities, and other people’s homes. One key area of urban innovation has to be to support the technologies that are required for more effective remote work. And also, to the broad ecosystems that enable more effective and productive remote work.

SW: To cities considering their plans for future infrastructure investment, what would your message be?

RF: We need to move away from the old focus on smart cities and focus on urban tech and urban innovation broadly.

And we need to do so in ways that are inclusive and sustainable. The focus must be on building more innovative, inclusive and resilient urban areas and communities.

Richard Florida is University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management, and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU’s Schack School of Real Estate. He is the author of several books, including The Rise of the Creative Class and The New Urban Crisis.

Image: Jaime Hogge