10 Facts About Richard Florida

Richard L Florida was born on 1957 and is an American urban studies theorist focusing on social and economic theory.

Richard Florida is a professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU's School of Professional Studies.

Richard Florida was named a Senior Editor at The Atlantic in March 2011 after serving as a correspondent for TheAtlantic.

Richard Florida is best known for his concept of the creative class and its implications for urban regeneration.

Richard Florida's theory asserts that metropolitan regions with high concentrations of technology workers, artists, musicians, lesbians and gay men, and a group he describes as "high bohemians", exhibit a higher level of economic development.

Richard Florida suggests that attracting and retaining high-quality talent versus a singular focus on projects such as sports stadiums, iconic buildings, and shopping centers, would be a better primary use of a city's regeneration of resources for long-term prosperity.

In 2004, following the rise of Google, the gurus of Web 2.0, and the call from business leaders for a more creative, as well as skilled, workforce, Richard Florida asserted that the contemporary relevance of his research is easy to see.

Richard Florida's ideas have been criticized from a variety of political perspectives and by both academics and journalists.

Richard Florida's theories have been criticized as being elitist, and his conclusions have been questioned.

Richard Florida has gone on to directly reply to a number of these objections.