Cities That Changed The World: Mapping History’s Hubs of Innovation

By: The Colin McEnroe Show
On: WNPR

Summary by Josh Nilaya
In looking to our past, a curious trend appears. A vast amount of mankind’s great accomplishments in art, music, science, technology and language seem to emerge from a relatively small number of cities: Athens, Hangzhou, Florence, Rome, Calcutta, Vienna, and Silicon Valley– just to name a few.

But the reasons these locations gave rise to so much advancement remain a source of debate. What multitude of factors must converge to make an otherwise un-notable city become a hub of creative genius? This hour we speak with geographers, and cultural historians to unravel this ancient and ongoing mystery.

Click the play button below to listen. Joel’s segment begins at 31:02 — once the audio is in play, you can click/drag along the timeline to start at the 31 minute mark.