Cities Make Us Smarter Triumph of the City, written by Edward Glaeser, dives into the topic of cities and how they have transformed and shaped our lives. Plastered across the cover reads, “How our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier, and happier”. Glaeser provides fantastic insights into each of these adjectives, but one stands apart from the rest. Cities make us smarter. Glaeser makes this clear when he states in the introduction, “Cities, the dense agglomerations that dot the globe, have been engines of innovation since Plato and Socrates bickered in an Athenian marketplace” (1). Large city population directly leads to a large quantity of different ideas and opinions living in proximity. This close proximity
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This creates a self-reinforcing cycle. The constant demand for expansion places strains on potential imitations such as limited space and the hazardous effects of having such large amounts of people in a restricted area of a city. Cleanliness was and remains to be a constant priority. Cities have made us smarter in the sense that we have created ways to keep places clean despite the constant use and traffic. Glaeser explains that, “In the 1880’s, New York’s streets were typically paved with oblong granite blocks laid on a bed of gravel. Sweeping those streets was easier than keeping cobblestones clean, but dirt and dust were still ubiquitous” (103). Cities make us smarter because the spread of information happens more smoothly from city to city rather than across rural communities. Paris experienced great success in the 1860’s in terms of road cleanliness due to Baron Haussmann’s findings that asphalt provided a much easier surface to keep clean. “By the 1890’s, New York City had also turned to asphalt paving” (103). The existence of cities allowed innovation to occur more rapidly on a global …show more content…
“A quarter of Vancouver area’s residents over the age of fifteen have at least a college degree, as opposed to 18 percent in Canada as a whole” (238). What was initially a logging town has now shifted to a well-educated cultural hub. With the establishment of the University of British Columbia, the city established a steady generation of well-educated citizens. Vancouver has become increasingly smarter as a whole due to its influx of talented migrant workers. “The city has expanded from 415,000 to 610,000 people, an increase of almost 50 percent. Vancouver’s boom has been fueled by a passionate attention to quality of life, a willingness to build up, and a flow of talented Asian immigrants” (238). Due to Vancouver establishing itself as a top-tier city for comfortable living, its attractiveness has gone through the roof. This attracts highly educated immigrants looking for a place to call home. The city of Vancouver serves as a fantastic destination for immigrants looking for a great place to put their education to use. This melting-pot of cultures positively shapes the overall intellectual ability of its population. Cities attract diversity and diversity improves
This creates a self-reinforcing cycle. The constant demand for expansion places strains on potential imitations such as limited space and the hazardous effects of having such large amounts of people in a restricted area of a city. Cleanliness was and remains to be a constant priority. Cities have made us smarter in the sense that we have created ways to keep places clean despite the constant use and traffic. Glaeser explains that, “In the 1880’s, New York’s streets were typically paved with oblong granite blocks laid on a bed of gravel. Sweeping those streets was easier than keeping cobblestones clean, but dirt and dust were still ubiquitous” (103). Cities make us smarter because the spread of information happens more smoothly from city to city rather than across rural communities. Paris experienced great success in the 1860’s in terms of road cleanliness due to Baron Haussmann’s findings that asphalt provided a much easier surface to keep clean. “By the 1890’s, New York City had also turned to asphalt paving” (103). The existence of cities allowed innovation to occur more rapidly on a global …show more content…
“A quarter of Vancouver area’s residents over the age of fifteen have at least a college degree, as opposed to 18 percent in Canada as a whole” (238). What was initially a logging town has now shifted to a well-educated cultural hub. With the establishment of the University of British Columbia, the city established a steady generation of well-educated citizens. Vancouver has become increasingly smarter as a whole due to its influx of talented migrant workers. “The city has expanded from 415,000 to 610,000 people, an increase of almost 50 percent. Vancouver’s boom has been fueled by a passionate attention to quality of life, a willingness to build up, and a flow of talented Asian immigrants” (238). Due to Vancouver establishing itself as a top-tier city for comfortable living, its attractiveness has gone through the roof. This attracts highly educated immigrants looking for a place to call home. The city of Vancouver serves as a fantastic destination for immigrants looking for a great place to put their education to use. This melting-pot of cultures positively shapes the overall intellectual ability of its population. Cities attract diversity and diversity improves