I've mentioned that I'm reading Richard Florida's Who's Your City. It explores the finding that innovation and creativity are often concentrated in certain region. The location a person lives has a great impact on one's life but people have often overlook this factor. I'm so interested in the topic that I have pick up some other related books as well as some book I've read in the past. I plan to do a summary on all of them shortly.

The book I'm going to cover are AnnaLee Saxenian's 1994 book Regional Advantage. It contrasts the remarkable different in culture and industrial system of US' two high tech center, Massachusetts' Route 128 region and California's Silicon Valley. Why does Route 128 falter and Silicon Valley flourish? Jane Jacobs has developed an insightful theory on the development of city regions in her 1985 book Cities and the Wealth of Nations. Her view of cities as the primary engine of economic activities echo Florida's finding. On a different note, Ng Chun Hung's book This time, This place - Sam Hui, is a nostalgic biography for the Hong Kong's superstar of the 70s and 80s. It catches my attention because it is a portrait of a golden age of creativity in Hong Kong's entertainment industry. I see a parallel in the rise of Sam Hui to stardom to the rise of Apple out of the work of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.

The common theme of these books is an exposition on creativity, change and development. How does development happens? What kind of conditions foster creativity and change? Why does innovation happens in some places and not in others?

2009.09.23 [book] - comments