Cities of Knowledge: Why We Learn Faster in Cities Than We Could On Our Own

The original venture capitalist was the military industrial complex, Margaret Pugh O’Mara wrote in her book Cities of Knowledge: Cold War Science and the Search for the Next Silicon Valley. Government money and government planning built high-tech regions dubbed “cities of knowledge” where the best minds worked together to advance U.S. technological supremacy during the Cold War. 

O’Mara argues that we must understand the unique history and geography of places like Silicon Valley if we are to replicate these places as hubs of talent, jobs, capital, and institutions. 

In our ‘flat’ digital world, in which we can connect virtually with anybody we want, one could argue that the notion of an innovation hub is outdated. However, in today’s lesson, innovation guru John Hagel explores the paradox that, despite the fact that technology infrastructure has made location unimportant, we’re becoming more urbanized at a more rapid rate than ever before.

Why is this? According to Hagel, learning faster is becoming more and more important, and we simply learn faster in cities than we could on our own.

Watch the video here:

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