48 BCBusiness January 2015
W
hen Richard Florida, argu-
ably the most famous urban
theorist alive, took the stage
at Vancouver's Queen Eliza-
beth Theatre last fall, he
told a sold-out crowd that he
loved B.C.'s biggest city, calling it one of
the most beautiful on the planet. But
more than that, Florida argued that Van-
couver is where B.C.'s future lies.
That future is intricately linked to the
rise of what Florida calls the "creative
class." His theory (repeated by media
types everywhere): the world economy
is undergoing one of the most radical
transitions of all time, from one filled
with mostly labour jobs—think manu-
facturing, where employment has been
An Urban Era
Why Metro Vancouver
will always come out
(almost) on top
b y T r e v o r M e l a n s o n
tourism vancouver/ albert normandin
