Many of the world’s best ideas – indeed some of its greatest civilizations – have emerged from the encounter, clash and then resolution of differing cultures and mindsets. In the modern economy in which creativity and innovation are vital, this potential of diversity as a source of new ideas is now being recognized… at least by some.
Leading companies and NGOs now go out of their way to bring together hybrid teams to think and go beyond the commonplace. But in most of the world’s cities it’s seemingly a different story. At best migration is seen as cheap labour but more generally it’s a source of difficulty, dispute and threat.
In this new book, Phil Wood and Charles Landry ask ‘when will cities stop complaining about cultural diversity and start seeing it as one of their greatest assets and sources of advantage?’ Ever since the great engineer Brunel resolved the competing aspects of his French and English heritage and transformed the city of Bristol with a string of technological innovations, some cities have been realizing the diversity advantage. The challenge now is for cities to do this all the time, not just in technology but in new hybrid ways of making wealth, running social services or taking decisions.

http://www.earthscan.co.uk/downloads/Intercultural_City_Press_Release.pdf