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After Coronavirus We Need to Rethink Densely Populated Cities
/in Urban Affairs /by Joel KotkinFor the better part of this millennium, the nation’s urban planning punditry has predicted that the future lay with its densest, largest, and most cosmopolitan cities. Yet even before the onslaught of COVID-19, demographic and economic forces were pointing in the exact opposite direction…
The End of New York
/in Urban Affairs /by Joel KotkinToday, New York faces a looming existential crisis brought on by the coronavirus. It suffers the largest outbreak of infection by far, accounting for the largest numbers of both cases and deaths outside of Wuhan and Milan.
The Coming Age of Dispersion
/in Demographics, Urban Affairs /by Joel KotkinAs of this writing, the long-term effects of the coronavirus pandemic remain uncertain. But one possible consequence is an acceleration of the end of the megacity era. In its place, we may now be witnessing the outlines of a new, and necessary, dispersion of population, not only in the wide open spaces of North America and Australia, but even in the megacities of the developing world.
Coronavirus and the Future of Living and Working in America
/in California, Demographics /by Joel KotkinBy late spring, the most severe impacts from the coronavirus may be fading, but its impact on how we live and work will not go away. Indeed, many of the most relevant trends — including the rise of dispersed work and living arrangements — were already emerging even before the pandemic emerged.
Outbreak a Wake-up Call About Need to Decouple from China
/in Politics /by JK-adminFrom forced labor practices to the emergence of coronavirus, developments suggest that it is well past time to start a “hard decoupling” from China.
Millennials Find New Hope in the Heartland
/in Demographics, The Economy /by Joel KotkinIn “Millennials Find New Hope In The Heartland,” Heartland Forward Senior Fellow Joel Kotkin and his contributors address a fundamental topic for future economic success in the Heartland.
California Democrats Exit Planet Earth
/in California, Demographics, Politics, The Economy /by Joel KotkinThis past week, in most states, America’s liberal party voted for a doddering, but non-threatening old man, rejecting a strident socialist from Vermont. But second thoughts about socialism appear not to be on the agenda for California’s Democrats, who almost single-handedly kept Bernie Sanders’ anti-capitalist crusade from an untimely implosion.
Moderation’s Limits: Centrist Democrats Short-Term Triumph
/in Demographics, Politics /by Joel KotkinModerate Democrats are celebrating Joe Biden’s big Super Tuesday, but their joy may reflect a short-term triumph of the party’s past over its longer-term future. The sudden consolidation of the moderate vote around Biden may have triumphed for now, with help from African-American and older voters, but the Sanders–Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party remains the choice of rising demographic groups of the future.
Democrats Risk Blowback with Leftward Turn
/in California, Politics /by Joel KotkinWith progressive Democrats in almost total control of California, and easily winning the money race, there’s no compelling reason to expect that they will face much opposition soon. Yet at a hearing I attended last month, I may have gotten a glimpse of potential blowback against the party’s ever accelerating leftward turn.
The Two Middle Classes
/in Politics, The Economy /by Joel KotkinPoliticians across the Western world like to speak fondly of the “middle class” as if it is one large constituency with common interests and aspirations. But, as Karl Marx observed, the middle class has always been divided by sources of wealth and worldview. Today, it is split into two distinct, and often opposing, middle classes.