The economics of successful cities
Understand how skills, proximity and the exchange of ideas contribute to urban growth and innovation.
← Keynote Speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Edward Glaeser
Harvard economist; author of Triumph of the City
Fee information first. Availability is normally checked once there is a concrete intention to proceed.
WHY EDWARD
What Edward brings to the room.
An urban-economics perspective on why some cities generate opportunity — and why buildings alone cannot create a thriving economy.
KEYNOTE TOPICS
Ideas built for the stage.
Beyond the building
Examine what must accompany physical investment for infrastructure and urban development to generate useful economic activity.
The future of urban opportunity
Explore how cities can support enterprise, access and resilience as the demands on urban life change.
Edward Glaeser studies how cities grow, how ideas travel and why economic opportunity concentrates in particular places. He is the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University, where he has taught since 1992. His research spans urban economics, economic growth and the relationships between place, skills and productivity.
In Triumph of the City, Glaeser explores the contribution of proximity and human interaction to innovation and prosperity. His work challenges leaders to look beyond a city’s physical assets to the people, enterprise and connections those assets support. With David Cutler, he co-authored Survival of the City, examining the challenges facing urban life and its capacity to adapt.
For city leaders, infrastructure investors and regional development agencies, this perspective provides a way to test the purpose of an investment. What activity will it enable? Which people and firms will benefit from being near one another? What complementary capabilities are necessary for a new district or destination to thrive?
His contribution is particularly relevant when an audience needs to distinguish construction from economic development. A useful brief connects a local decision about infrastructure, housing or investment with the wider economics of skills, access and urban growth.
ON STAGE
Watch Edward in action.
Our Urban Age — TEDxBeaconStreet
CONSIDERING EDWARD?
Interested in Edward?
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