Kotkin is the provocative urbanist and Forbes contributor whose latest book is The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. In a Forbes piece last year, he gave a preview of his thinking:
North America boasts at least three genuine emerging world cities: Calgary, in Canada, and Houston and Dallas. These regional economies have been built around energy and expanding industrial power. They also have enjoyed rapid population growth. Last year, Houston and Dallas grew more than any other metropolitan region in the country; over the past decade, their populations have increased six times more rapidly than New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or San Francisco.
But it’s not all a demographic game; cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas have similarly enjoyed rapid growth but do not fit on the rising global cities list. The key difference lies in the Texan cities’ rising corporate power. Houston, with 27 Fortune 500 firms, has passed Chicago in the number of Fortune 500 companies, while Dallas, with 14, ranks third. Together, the two Texan cities account for about as many Fortune firms as New York, once home to almost a third of the nation’s largest companies.
He speaks March 24 at noon at the Fairmont. Get tickets here. I expect it will be a sold-out event, so do it while you’re thinking of it.
