Richard Florida is a canadian researcher and professor, serving as University Professor at University of Toronto’s School of Cities and Rotman School of Management, and a Distinguished Fellow at NYU’s Schack School of Real Estate He is a writer and journalist, having penned several global best sellers, including the award winning "The Rise of the Creative Class" and his most recent book, "The New Urban Crisis". He is co-founder of CityLab, the leading publication devoted to cities and urbanism. Mr. Florida is an entrepreneur, as founder of the Creative Class Group which works closely with companies and governments worldwide.