How does it feel to be seen as the guru of gentrification, which was (and indeed often still is) hailed as the salvation of ailing urban centres, but is increasingly viewed as a malignant force that actually exacerbates inequalities? That, essentially, was the question that Oliver Wainwright put to Richard Florida in a somewhat combative interview for the Guardian.
Florida's blueprint, as outlined in The Rise Of The Creative Class, promised much, not least because it valued creative types as change-makers and economic drivers rather than dismissing them as infantile hobbyists who should give up their pipe dreams and retrain to get a proper job. As Wainwright notes, however, ultimately gentrification has "proven to benefit the already rich, mostly white middle class; fuel rampant property speculation; displace the bohemians he so fetishised; and see the problems that once plagued the inner cities simply move out to the suburbs."
Florida bluntly insists "I'm not sorry. I will not apologise. I do not regret anything", but judging by his other comments - and his new book The New Urban Crisis - he does. What got lost along the way - and what continues to elude many excitable councils and planners - was the fact that gentrification could be fundamentally exclusionary. I love a good farmers' market or artisanal coffee shop as much as the next white, middle-class man, but clearly they're not for everyone.
To his credit, Florida admits, "I realised that we need to develop a new narrative, which isn't just about creative and innovative growth and clusters, but about inclusion being a part of prosperity." A laudable ambition, to be sure, but - Wainwright implies - one that The New Urban Crisis doesn't flesh out in any detail. It's a challenge that cities the world over urgently need to address, with or without Florida's guidance.
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