Have you wondered about why innovation in cities matters? What do you think are the world’s most innovative cities? How can you measure innovation in cities?

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It’s better to listen to read? Then we got you fam! Economist Gene Tunny leads a 47 minute interview on cities and innovation, covering key concepts, and a few detours along the way. One of those detours is coffee and innovation!

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If you work often in a coffee shop - why do you do so? Some co-working lounges, and even banks, now resemble giant cafes! There’s a reason.

Is it the same reason perhaps, that 200+ years ago Napoleon Bonaparte left his famous hat apparently as security for an unpaid coffee, in Cafe Procope in Paris. Could have Napoleon been like you?

Or why Hemingway had his table at the nearby Cafe Lipp in Paris, and even more tables in local cafes throughout St Germain des Pres? Was Hemingway one of us? The creative coffee drinkers?

Perhaps you own a cafe - and make a living off all the creatives adding colour and seeking inspiration at your tables!

Lloyds of London started in a coffee house.

When artists - arguably the most creative people except perhaps full stack programmers… :) - do not get their coffee they can fly into a rage… or at least they cannot perform the same. As is the case for many office workers.

Coffee is a proven idea stimulant!

Have you ever solved a problem over a cup of coffee?

Did you know the Cafes per 100,000 and Cafes (total) data points are available to order from 2thinknow for 500 cities - for the current year, and previous years?

We also provide a ranking of the world’s 500 coffee cities - Reach out.

There are lots more interesting facts and figures besides, but the episode is now live. The whole episode is of course on cities and innovation, so it should interest economics, urban planning, city branding, placemaking, startups and all other cities geeks.

So geek out on the Podcast innovators!

From Economics Explored Podcast - interviewed by Gene Tunny.

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Cities worldwide want to be more innovative because innovation is a driver of economic growth.

The Innovation Cities Index shows cities where they’re doing well and where they’re doing badly relative to other cities.

Hear from Index creator Christopher Hire about the importance of having policies that are good for entrepreneurs and just how bad red tape is for innovation.

You’ll also learn how the prevalence of coffee shops is a good predictor of innovation. And you’ll hear from Christopher about what cities are hot right now.

Christopher Hire is Director of Data at 2THINKNOW, publishers of the Innovation Cities Index, a ranking of 500 cities for innovation, published since 2007. Christopher has given talks on cities and innovation to the OECD in Paris and the UN in Geneva. He’s a globally recognised expert on what makes cities innovative.

Links relevant to the conversation

See and download the Index in Excel:

https://innovation-cities.com/indexes

Substack Innovation Cities Gazette Newsletter:

https://innovation-cities.substack.com/

Get the data - Answer your research question with city data points:

https://citybenchmarkingdata.com

Connect with Christopher HIre on LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/christopherhire

Other Links:

https://Linktr.ee/Christopherhire

Credits

Thanks to Josh Crotts for mixing the episode and to the show’s sponsor, Gene’s consultancy business www.adepteconomics.com.au. Please consider signing up to receive our email updates and to access our e-book Top Ten Insights from Economics at www.economicsexplored.com. Economics Explored is available via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcast, and other podcasting platforms.

Photo by https://unsplash.com/@amsterdamian on the Substack article

Innovation Cities™ Gazette

Great Coffee Makes Cities More…