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Ethos Issue 5, Nov 2008
Who's Your City? How the Creative Economy is
Making Where to Live the Most Important
Decision in Your Life
Author: Richard Florida
Published by Basic Books, US:2008
Reviewed by Cai Shan
Talent retention is an issue Florida does not dwell on. However, he does note that there are those with the means to migrate who choose to stay rooted. A big reason is that close personal and social relationships can outweigh economic opportunities. This implies that social networks can be tapped to retain talent. Some global nomads might be more inclined to settle if they are able to reach their potential and find happiness with their families and communities around them. Gallup surveys of foreign talent in Singapore also indicate that social networks are particularly important to segments of talent and greatly affect their satisfaction with life here. The broader point is that increasingly, our talent strategy will have to encompass softer, intangible factors that matter to people.
Last but not least, it is interesting to note that mega-regions develop from city-regions growing outwards and into one another, rather than simply growing upward. For Singapore, this process of merging presents an inherent constraint, as there is no physical hinterland for us to expand into. This signifies that we have to leverage the world as our hinterland and build a "Greater Singapore" mega-region, through extending our economic, trade and transport links to all corners of the world map, and by finding innovative ways to include overseas Singaporeans as part of our extended social and economic base.
CONCLUSION
Florida’s Who’s Your City? delivers a persuasive, well researched and cogent argument for the key importance of location in today’s global economy, albeit one centred mainly on US cities. Nevertheless, it should convince readers to ask themselves the question more often: "Where should I choose to live?" For policymakers, the burning question might be: "How can we become the place where the best talent would choose to live?"
Cai Shan is a Manager in the International Manpower Division (Policy), Ministry of Manpower, Singapore. She is currently pursuing postgraduate studies at Harvard University in the US.
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The Sun Belt is a geographic region commonly perceived to stretch across the south and southwest of the United States, which has seen substantial population growth in recent decades, partly fuelled by a surge in retiring baby boomers who have migrated domestically, as well as the influx of migrant workers. |
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