Against the backdrop of a made-for-tv mayoral election, Richard Florida looks at the litany of issues afflicting London as the city struggles with the deepest challenges it has faced since the Great Depression and post-war years.
As Ken Livingstone, the former mayor and "fiery socialist with a penchant for dropping explosive sound bites", faces off against Boris Johnson, "the tousled-haired, bike-riding conservative incumbent", in an election run-up resembling "a reality TV show," the reality of the pressing challenges facing the city could make for some rather dramatic television themselves.
"The city has been buffeted by the financial crisis, suffering more severe blows than most cities, from which it is still suffering." With the city's economic, media, and entertainment power weakening, and forecasted to decline further, "the next mayor will have to spearhead a plan to stave off growing competition from a host of global cities."
Florida describes a laundry list of additional challenges that the city's next mayor will have to address: from bolstering its high-tech economy to better connecting its educational institutions to the private sector and bridging the growing class divide.
"Whether Boris or Ken, London's next mayor is going to have to thread this needle - to make the city even more attractive to global talent and business while at the same time improving its livability and affordability for ordinary people. It's a daunting challenge - one that the city's future prosperity turns on."
FULL STORY: London's Next Top Mayor
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
New York City School Construction Authority
Village of Glen Ellyn
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions