A Quarter of the World’s Most Educated People Live in the 100 Largest Cities
Prediction:
As our ubiquitously connected lives grow more interactive and ability to use the “adjunct intelligence” of the internet becomes more important, living in the down-net exurbs will become less popular. When house shopping broadband availability, proximity to a world class trauma unit, and a variety of art and entertainment venues will be almost as important as good schools, and since good schools can now be attended remotely I don’t know if I agree with Emily at Wonkblog’s conclusion that it’s education that’s the draw for educated people. Instead perhaps it’s the speed, and communal availability of network that’s the draw.
As I mentioned last week, college graduates are increasingly sorting themselves into high-cost, high-amenity cities such as Washington, New York, Boston and San Francisco, a phenomenon that threatens to segregate us across the country by education. This clustering of the well-educated — who are drawn to cities with a high quality of life and good jobs, further pushing up the cost of rent there — isn’t limited to the United States, though.
Ugne Saltenyte, an analyst at the market research firm Euromonitor, recently calculated that 24 percent of the world’s population over 15 years of age and with the equivalent of a two-year degree or more is concentrated in the world’s 100 largest cities. These same 100 cities — Saltenyte is counting full metropolitan areas here — are home to just 11 percent of the world’s total population.
In these cities, residents with higher education account for 21 percent of the population over 15, a number that’s increased from 18 percent as recently as 2005. This suggests that these cities may be both investing more heavily in education and luring educated workers from elsewhere.
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