Name: Triumph of the City
Rating: 4.4 (17 reviews)
Author: Edward Glaeser

Introduction

What’s in it for me? Find out why cities are the pinnacle of our civilization.

The year 2011 marked a milestone in human history: It was the first time that there were more people living in cities than in rural areas.

Increasingly, people from all over the world are moving to promising cities in pursuit of opportunities. But what is it that makes cities seem so promising to so many?

Urban metropolises offer jobs, universities and cultural institutions. The sheer variety of things to do and see makes it more likely that you’ll find what you’re looking for in life in a city.

Of course, cities also have their dark sides. Poverty and crime rates are higher in cities than in suburbs. What’s more, many urban centers have suffered serious economic decline in recent decades – just think of Detroit, which has come to symbolize the failures of modern America.

Ultimately, cities are reflections of humanity’s greatest achievements as well as its failures. And in these blinks, you’ll learn what makes cities so essential for human progress.

In the following blinks, you’ll also learn:

why theater tickets and restaurant prices are cheaper in the city than in the countryside;
why Britain's Prince Charles hates the modern skyscrapers of Chicago; and
why living in an urban environment sometimes encourages criminal behavior.

Key idea 1 of 8

Cities are the engines of human progress. We think and create better when surrounded by our peers.

Whether Athenian thinkers creating the foundation for classical philosophy or Florentine artists ushering in the Renaissance, throughout history, cities have been hotbeds of creativity and progress.

What makes cities so conducive to visionary thinking? Cities bring people together, enabling collaboration and thus the spread of knowledge. This lively process often produces unexpected and paradigm-shifting creations.

Cities are such rich sources of inspiration that today, even though technology helps us exchange ideas and information regardless of our location, many of us still choose to cluster in dense cities. That’s because people prefer learning via face-to-face communication.

Consider Silicon Valley: Even though the tech industry is highly connected through the internet, programmers and inventors still want to be in the same physical location as their peers.

And as a result, since the world’s most talented software engineers are all concentrated in a tiny geographic area, there’s a natural sense of competition – which means everyone works that much harder to come up with the “next big thing.”

This gets at an important point. Ultimately, human progress in cities relies on three things: small firms, smart people and global connectedness. Silicon Valley embodies this kind of environment, as did industrial Detroit.

In the mid-twentieth century, it seemed there was a genius and a start-up on every street corner – think of Henry Ford, the Dodge brothers, Detroit Electric, General Motors – each obsessed with creating the next automobile innovation.

In addition to all this human capital, Detroit was also connected to the outside world via a major railroad and a waterway. These connections not only enabled the constant flow of goods to the city, but also brought a stream of eager entrepreneurs.

Although cities offer plenty of opportunity for work and innovation, that’s not all. As we’ll see in the next blinks, city dwellers also have a lot of fun.

Key idea 2 of 8

Cities provide a platform for vibrant creative communities, and make theater tickets cheaper, too.

Although living in the countryside has its charms – especially if you enjoy being in nature – if you’re looking for stimulation and excitement, you have to enter the urban jungle.

That’s because the creative connectivity fostered by cities doesn’t just produce better businesses, it also nourishes the arts and entertainment communities.

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Key idea 3 of 8

Densely packed cities are far better for the environment than is the sprawl of suburbs.

Here’s a surprising fact. When it comes to global warming and carbon emissions, living in a city is the environmentally responsible choice, for two main reasons.

For one, city dwellers drive less. Public transportation is inexpensive and far reaching, and parking is often scarce, so city people opt for the bus rather than a traffic jam.

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Key idea 4 of 8

Cities provide those suffering from poverty access to jobs and other opportunities.

Cities are often associated with poverty – you might imagine the slums of Mumbai as one example.

And generally speaking, poverty rates are higher in cities. In the United States for example, the urban poverty rate is 17.7 percent. Meanwhile, the poverty rate is only 9.8 percent in the suburbs.

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Key idea 5 of 8

Higher rates of crime and disease pose a real challenge to life in a city.

Although urban density does create tremendous opportunity, it can also lead to crime and disease.

That’s because people interact with each other more frequently when they’re crowded in relatively small areas. This closeness and frequency of interaction facilitates the spreading of disease via infection and contaminated water.

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Key idea 6 of 8

Because of globalization, today many Western cities struggle with industrial decline.

Many of the greatest cities owe their historic growth to industrialization, supporting gigantic factories that required thousands of workers.

Those times are over. Today, these same cities are struggling amid globalization and industrial decline.

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Key idea 7 of 8

For many thriving cities, education has been the foundation for success in a post-industrial era.

Which cities have successfully handled post-industrialization? Could their stories help others?

Let’s start with Boston. This city’s key to success is its superb educational institutions and the knowledge-based industries that have been incubated alongside.

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Key idea 8 of 8

Home is where the opportunity is: Cities need to provide residents with affordable housing, too.

Cities that have overcome the challenges of industrial decline face new problems, such as exploding costs for residential spaces. The problem: if cities are affordable only for the wealthy, they will eventually lose what made them attractive and experience significant population decline.

When there’s surging demand for urban housing, there are only two possible outcomes. Either the cost of living rises, or a city builds new and affordable housing for low- and middle-income residents.

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Triumph of the City summary