One of my favourite academic books of the last two decades must be the “Rise of the Creative Classes” by Professor Richard Florida.
This was one of the first detailed studies of the growing group of individuals who use their creativity and mental labour to earn a living and not only included those in arts and entertainment, but also people working in science and technology as well as knowledge-based professions such as healthcare, law, business, and finance.
It changed the way many policymakers considered the impact of a fast-changing workforce especially in many urban environments but, most important of all, it was one of the first studies to examine how the motivations and impact of this type of worker were different to what had been discussed before.
