Both DVI’s white paper Turning the Corner: Rethinking & Remaking Downtown and IBM’s Smarter Cities Challenge Report advocate for creating density in Downtown Jacksonville through “focusing on the core” and establishing an “epicenter for growth.” Concentrating economic development and incentives in a small section of Downtown creates stronger momentum, connectivity, density and in turn, productivity.
The recent Atlantic Cities article “Why Denser Cities Are Smarter and More Productive” shares insights from a recent study published in the Journal of Regional Science. The study provides new evidence of the relationships between density, human capital, and urban productivity, specifically asserting that density:
- Plays a considerable role in the productivity of metro areas
- Plays a bigger role in cities where levels of skill and human capital are higher
- Is even more substantial in industries with high levels of knowledge and creativity