It has become clear that the future of developed economies lies in advanced innovation industries—both in new tech industries and in many traditional industries that are being transformed by technology. Unfortunately, the technology economy has widened regional divides between a small number of dynamic, high-tech “superstar” metropolitan areas and most others. Rather than growing together, America’s metros have been growing apart.
Writing for BRINK, Rob Atkinson explains the roots of the divergence problem, charts the rise of superstar cities, and argues market forces alone won’t close the gap so government should step in with an initiative to enable growth in heartland tech hubs, as ITIF and Brookings have proposed.
