Revitalizing Cities: Amenities, Economic Development, & the Attraction of Human Capital

Revitalizing Cities: Amenities, Economic Development, & the Attraction of Human Capital

The focus on knowledge, innovation, and a highly educated workforce as the agents of economic transformation has reemphasized Marshall’s “ideas in the air” as the keys to successful long-term growth strategies. He was among the first to suggest that wealth occurs where creative, skilled labor concentrates. It is these individuals who generate the ideas that create new products, processes, innovations, and, most importantly, jobs. Recent empirical work has validated the importance of a well-educated labor for development.