The urban theorist discusses the appeal of urban life to young workers and how remote work is going to change the way we live.

The future of American cities has been a point of ongoing anxiety. For the past couple of decades, the fate of both fading industrial centers and booming tech hubs has resulted in much hand-wringing. 

When COVID-19 arrived in early 2020, it supercharged anxieties about the future of cities while also challenging some assumed wisdom about who will occupy American cities in the future and how. 

Americans have been living in that future for a year and a half now and, while the fate of cities may be a little clearer, it is still difficult to say exactly where urban life is headed.

For this episode of the Crosscut Talks podcast, urban theorist Richard Florida shares his evolving vision of America's urban future, explaining why early concerns of an exodus were overblown and how work will really change the way city dwellers live.

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Credits

Host: Mark Baumgarten

Event producers: Jake Newman, Andrea O'Meara

Engineers: Sara Bernard, Resti Bagcal, Viktoria Ralph