March 25, 2004

Richard Florida, Guru Of Urban Development, Focusing
On Creative Class, Is April 22 Regents' Lecturer At UCSD

By Barry Jagoda

Richard Florida, author of the best-selling book, The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life, will speak at the University of California, San Diego at 7 p. m. on Thursday, April 22 in the Copley Auditorium at the Institute of the Americas on the UCSD campus. The Regents’ Lecture, which brings significant professionals of distinction in the arts and sciences to campus, is free and open to the public.

Speaking on the topic, “The New American Dream” Florida will expand on his thesis that profound changes in the workplace and in our cities result from the presence of a creative culture in a community. His “Creative Class” book has profoundly influenced cities across America which have embarked on new strategies for economic development based on Florida’s thinking.

Florida is the Heinz Professor of Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He has been a visiting scholar at MIT, Harvard and the Brookings Institution. Author of five other books and many dozens of articles, Florida received the Ph.D in urban studies and planning from Columbia University in 1986.

This visit represents the second time Florida has been to San Diego to spend time with community leaders, to discuss regional futures, and to share, with a broad public audience, his ideas about the importance of talent and creativity to regional vitality and capacity for renewal. Florida's work complements, in significant ways, studies that are being done by other organizations and faculty at UCSD on the key components and dynamics of innovation in communities like San Diego.

Florida has contributed a number of original ideas to thinking about
regional growth and prosperity. He focuses on many cultural and social
issues that help shape the quality of life in a region and which might also enhance the attractiveness of the region to talented young people in the arts, science and technology sectors. In his research on San Diego, he has identified many promising attributes as well as some significant gaps. His lecture will address these and related topics.

Media Contact, Barry Jagoda (858) 534 8567