Opportunity Urbanism: Creating Cities for Upward Mobility
By Joel Kotkin…
Over the past decade, we have witnessed the emergence of a new urban paradigm that both maximizes growth and provides greater upward mobility. We call this opportunity urbanism, an approach that focuses largely on providing the best policy environment for both businesses and individuals to pursue their aspirations.
Although contrary to much of the conventional wisdom about cities and regions, this is not a break with traditional urbanism, but instead a reinforcement of old traditions.
Long ago, Aristotle reminded us that the city was a place where people came to live, and they remained there in order to live better. “A city comes into being for the sake of life, but exists for the sake of living well.”
In the end, opportunity urbanism rests on the notion that cities serve, first and foremost, as engines to create better lives for its residents (excerpted from the report)
