Social Scientists Rethink City Living

25 December 2011

(From left) Rita Achiro, Ehklas Ahmed and Judith Abdalla sing in the Pihcintu Multicultural Children's Chorus.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Shirley Griffith.

STEVE EMBER: And I'm Steve Ember. This week on our program, we tell you why an economist has written a book in praise of cities. We also meet an outdoor survival expert -- he teaches people how to find wild plants that are safe to eat. And, later, we hear from a multicultural children's chorus with a message of peace.

(MUSIC)

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: For economist Edward Glaeser, the best place to live is a city.

EDWARD GLAESER: "Cities are so fascinating because they play to mankind's greatest gift, which is our ability to learn from other people."

Since ancient times, he says, cities have given creative minds a place to work together to improve societies. But cities have not always gotten much thanks in return.

EDWARD GLAESER: "In the nineteen seventies, it looked as if globalization, new technologies and the death of distance was making our older cities obsolete. After all, the garment industry was fleeing New York. It looked like history itself was telling New York City to drop dead."

Yet since then, he says, globalization and new technologies have driven improvements in many cities. As a result, people are better able to profit from ideas.