I’m on a flight to Singapore as I write this article.  I’m going about as far away as you can get from Cincinnati.  Somehow it seems vaguely appropriate at this time to reflect on my relationship with Cincinnati (24 hours in the air can make anything seem profound).

I am a native son, a product of the working class parishes of the west side.  At a young age, I was a restless searcher, I suppose, and found a need for both artistic expression and travel.  I picked up a degree in design at UC.  My travels started with a backpack, relying on my thumb or a Eurail Pass to get me to my next destination.  Today, I find myself sitting in this tony seat, on an airplane headed for the other side of the world.  (Yes, ma’am, I believe I will have another chardonnay.)

So, my restlessness has served me well.  I’ve built a great career based on some fundamental passions I discovered early.  Importantly, my travels have given me a dose of something that seems to be in very short supply in Cincinnati – perspective.

Singapore is a fascinating place to visit. It is described by some as “Asia light,” pristine and modern with just a touch of Little India, Chinatown, and Malay life, all thriving side by side in this tiny city-state of three million. Singapore is different than Cincinnati in almost every way imaginable.  It’s fun to spend a moment thinking about the Singapore story and then reflect on our hometown.  Lee Kuan Yew took hold of a desperately poor city-state that was badly served in turn by the British, the Japanese and the Malay Federation.  He turned this backward city into one of the most remarkable places on earth, all within the time frame of one generation.  Benevolent dictators can make things happen fast.

Singapore has developed a certain arrogance; Singaporeans are noted for their self-confidence, bordering on boastfulness.  But even they are a bit edgy today, as they think about their place in the evolving global economy.  They are looking to new ideas, like design, to be an engine for growth in the worldwide creative economy that’s unfolding.  What got them there, won’t keep them there, and they know it.  And by the way, Singapore, for all of its success, is described by some as the most crushingly dull place in Asia.

My thoughts then turn to Cincinnati; a city with a remarkable history – beautiful topography, great architecture, great parks and an impressive art scene.  In the 19th Century, Cincinnati was something of a Singapore; big, brassy, inventive and confident – a must see on the world tour of the likes of Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde. 
Not all that long ago, we still maintained an unbearable sense of our superiority.  We were the first large city that wasn’t on the East Coast.  Even in my lifetime, we were the only city worth mentioning between Chicago and the East.  Upstarts like Atlanta, Charlotte, and certainly our neighbors, Indianapolis and Columbus, were not even worthy of consideration.

It seems almost in an instant everything changed.  Other cities passed us by.  A surge of cynicism developed and a precipitous drop in our self-esteem enveloped us.  Soon, we were scrambling to outdo one another in finding new ways to insult our town.  It makes we wonder whether Singapore, as it adjusts to a changing world, could find itself on the wrong side of self image in a relatively short amount of time.  It seems preposterous but then I never thought it could happen here.

Of much more interest to me, however, is the recent return toward confidence in our city. Urban living is cool again and Cincinnati is once again in its ascendancy.  Yes, there are still vestiges of the negative thinking out there, but those opinions are increasingly the uninformed remnants of old stories.

Let’s Get Spiky

Richard Florida in his latest book, Who's Your City, challenges the basic assumption of Thomas Freedman in his book, The World is Flat.  Freedman argues that technology has made the world flat; globalization spreads out economic activity.  As Freedman writes, “You can innovate without having to immigrate.” 

“Not so fast,” says Florida.  “The world isn’t flat.” 

Yes, the spread of routine economic functions; such as, simple manufacturing or service work, can be done in a more cost-effective way in low cost countries.  But, other high-level activities; such as, innovation, design, finance, and media are clustering in a relatively small number of locations.  The world is not flat; in fact, the world is a bit spiky.  These spikes create their own eco systems of leading edge universities, high-powered companies, flexible labor markets, and venture capital.  The world is full of spiky peaks and valleys.  People in the spiky places are often more connected with others, even from halfway around the world, than they are to people and places in their own back yards.  That could explain why I’m flying halfway around the world to lecture at a Singapore Design Council Conference.  Florida writes that, “Peak to peak connectivity is, in fact, accelerating by a highly mobile creative class of about 150 million people world-wide.”

This type of thinking makes us reflect on our outlook for Cincinnati.  The struggle between the innovative talent attracting “have regions” and the talent exporting “have not regions” is escalating.  Florida and others suggest that talent clustering is a primary determinate of economic growth.  When people, especially talented and creative ones, come together, ideas flow more freely.  Clustering makes each of us more productive, which in turn, makes the place we inhabit even more so.  This is called the clustering force.

That is why the Regional Chamber is focused on young professionals.  Harnessing young professional energy (H.Y.P.E.) is a good place for the Chamber to focus.  Young professionals bring energy, creativity and stamina to the work of community building.  Cincinnati will be more fun, more tolerant, more diverse and more prosperous as we create an environment that serves the ambitions of YPs.  We are on our way.  We have far to go.  Let’s enjoy the journey. 

Watch your back Singapore!