The Rise Of The Creative Class

By Richard Florida

ISBN 0-465-02477-7

We seem to be living in a world that defies explanation. There are many features of the world in which we are living that we cannot explain from our past experience. We know that we are living in an era of very rapid change, and we do not have a framework that we can use to understand those changes. It is this sense of bewilderment – “Futureshock” as the Tofflers would have it - that attracted me to the book. I felt that it might help me to explain the world in which I find myself. We decided to incorporate the book as part of our Small Business Project, which has a keen interest in the future direction of the UK economy over the next 15 years or so, because it seemed to have something useful to say about small business formation and regional development.

The real test for an academic work such as this lies in its utility. Does the book help us to understand the world in which we live? I feel that it does, and I also feel that it advances our knowledge by a considerable degree. It provides an alternative to the established location theory, which might not be working as effectively as it needs to. By way of conclusion, I am very convinced by the arguments advanced in the book, and I have no hesitation in recommending it to all of those who have an interest in local regeneration, social development, and the Knowledge Economy.

READ the full review.

BUY from Amazon UK.