The Color of Innovation

Innovation District: Boston’s “South Boston Action Plan”(2)

 

The simplicity of our career’s beginnings

will not damage its greatness at conclusion.

——Zhuangzi·Man in the World

 

Talent will decide the future of economic development in Boston, and holds the key to the fate of development in the world’s metropolitan areas.

——Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce

       This is the third Thanksgiving I’ve spent in Boston, and I feel that the holiday spirit is stronger this year than in previous years. Cars have been parked in front of our doors by friends and relatives getting together with our neighbors to celebrate the holiday, and on the streets I keep running into happy groups of people. Even children’s playgrounds appear crowded, having added more than a few strange faces. Groups of eager and enthusiastic people converse with cheerful voices, and with rich facial expressions and animated body language, next to tables in restaurants, on the sides of roads, and at playgrounds; everyone has swept clear the reserve and quiet of their everyday lives- there is really a feeling bordering on exuberance in Boston now!

The phrase “a fall filled with troubled tidings” could be used to describe the more than one month that has just passed, and I believe that the successive series of unexpected events that occurred here over that time made everyone hold within themselves thoughts which they now wish to get off their chests and topics which can be discussed at length.

First among topics that people won’t let go of is that of late October’s storm, the once in a lifetime Hurricane Sandy; while the hurricane didn’t actually make people go wild with terror, it still did make people extremely nervous. First came the state governor announcing that Massachusetts had entered a State of Emergency, closely followed by a stream of telephone calls, text messages and emails broadcasting all types of warning information and disaster-related reminders. Television and broadcasting stations rolled out live reports on the storm center, followed by shopping centers’ disaster-related goods being completely bought up. When the storm’s strong winds and rain hit, schools stopped classes, transportation stopped, businesses closed, and rescue teams along the Greater Boston seacoast prepared to meet the challenge.

However fortunately, after making landfall on the New Jersey coast, Sandy’s winds turned left and headed westwards, so that the storm’s center only glanced by Boston. While some areas of Massachusetts suffered light storm damage, no persons lost their lives due to the storm. Rattled, but not seriously damaged, Boston did not ignore the damaged plight of its brother and sister cities; Boston mayor Thomas Menino immediately sent well-prepared teams to New York to be immediately put into use in local disaster rescue and relief efforts. The conversations I hear now no longer discuss the “luck” that we had, as they did during the “nervous” times before the storm as well as after it hit, but now mostly concern the fact that ‘we can’t always be this lucky, what will we do the next time a “Sandy” comes? What preparatory work should we start to carry out now?

Another often-mentioned topic is of course that of the political elections that have just ended. In Massachusetts, everyone, in addition to paying attention to the presidential election, placed even greater attention on the election results for the US House of Representatives and Senate Positions, and the most gripping of these races was the struggle for one of the state’s senate seats in the US Senate. Romney’s current domicile is Massachusetts, he served as Massachusetts State Governor in the past, and he also made his election headquarters in the Boston area, however everyone was deeply aware that he had no chance of victory in Massachusetts, called a base of the Democratic party, and the only question with the presidential election results in Massachusetts was that of just how many votes he would lose by.

In fact it was the election contest between female Harvard University Law School professor Elizabeth Warren and Republican Party Senator Scott Brown that was fiercely contested, with polling results from polling organizations before the elections showing that voting support was extremely close for both. The election results were even more surprising, with the Democratic Party candidate, 63 year old Warren, winning a clear victory, 54% to 46%, over the “Tall, Handsome and Rich” Brown- who had already served for two years as Senator-, winning the most expensive election for US Senate in history (the two candidates spent almost 80 million US dollars in campaign costs)!

Whether discussing Sandy or the election, everyone comes to mentions one of Massachusetts’s political stage’s most important characters-Boston’s Mayor Menino.

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      If discussing Menino in connection with Sandy, people would first praise his planning and calmness in the face of the approaching natural disaster, and secondly express worry about his and Boston’s future development. The concern is not only about Menino’s physical health, although this is a concern indeed- since cutting short a vacation in Italy due to illness on October 26, he has continuously been in the hospital receiving treatment. Although from time to time he uses the media to release news that he is gradually getting better, it seems that the outlook is not positive, and people indeed have cause to express deep concern and wishes for his physical health.

After hearing and seeing the awful plight of disaster areas such as New Jersey and New York City after the assault by Sandy, even more people have begun to sweat over the Innovation District construction project which Menino has actively promoted. The worry is, when the Innovation District is completed after several years, with its position on the coast in South Boston’s wharf district, if the Innovation District were to be hit by a storm equally as strong as Sandy, what would the result be? Would current safeguards be enough to successfully stop the sea’s rise and storm winds from causing negative influence and damage? As he sits in his hospital room reading and approving official documents, Mayor Menino, who has continued to be clear of mind, has certainly heard the worries and calls from the citizenry regarding this!

If discussing the election in regards to Menino, everyone, without exception, expresses their conviction and admiration for him. In regards to the election for US Senate, Menino was, from the beginning of the campaigns, in a very delicate and sensitive territory. Brown is a Republican, but actually happened to agree with Menino on many important topics, and the two men had established a very close personal relationship in the midst of their work together. Menino always greatly praised Brown’s ability and performance. However, although Warren- who like Menino is in the Democrat camp- was very active in the Washington area and extremely well-known nationally, didn’t have much experience cooperating with Menino in local government. At the Democratic Party National Convention, Menino didn’t clearly express support for Warren in his speech, and this made the Democratic Party unhappy and worried. Menino delayed giving his public support for Warren until September 21.

Why was obtaining Menino’s support so important? In addition to the influence that comes with being a star mayor, everyone also greatly values his charisma and organizational abilities. “They have a very capable team that can take issues to the streets”, said one Boston former City Council member, “this means making phone calls, identifying potential supporters, going door to door, etc. The work they did for Patrick (who has served as Massachusetts Governor since winning the position in 2006) was amazing! As long as they do the same for Warren, her victory is certain!” The facts of the election confirm that these words were not false!

On the day of the election, 2,289 volunteers rang the doorbells of 110,000 households, and gave citizens rides to polling places, gave free pizzas, hot coffee and hot chocolate to voters, and even used fast-food vehicles to give voters snacks such as soup and cookies, to supervise over and win votes. Election results showed that in Boston, 255,139 city voters cast votes, the most voters since 1964, and that of these 75% of voters cast votes for Warren.

After learning of the election results, Menino, in his hospital bed, couldn’t back his surprise and pleasure, and exclaimed, ” Look at Boston’s voting results, even better than the election for Patrick, this is so impressive!” Using the strength of Menino’s election machine, the Democrats not only defeated Republican Senator Brown, who had just warmed up his Senate seat and possessed great personal charm, but also ensured that all of Massachusetts’s sitting House Representatives seeking re-election were re-elected. As Republican strategist Todd Domke said in exasperation: “The reality is the Republican Party has met with widespread defeat in the entire Northeastern Region, and it was especially bad in Massachusetts.”

These two seemingly unrelated events (Hurricane Sandy response and the election), are actually both extremely connected to Menino, and thus convey a common message: when considering government administration and operation of political parties, human factors need to be considered; people really are the most important part of this equation. The Innovation District project has been a project on which Menino has labored for ten years, and although overall progress has been smooth, it seems that in the face of unexpected natural disasters, there will continue to be doubts and further re-assessments regarding the project. After all, city building’s biggest return and goal is to serve the people, and if city residents’ lives and properties are threatened (even if only potentially threatened), even the best, creative ideas will run aground no matter how much effort has been expended into them!

From this vantage point, it seems that Boston’s City Government and Menino are facing a new challenge. This election changed my original perception of the grassroots organizational power of the American government. Previously I primarily believed that it was very difficult for such loose “Election Clubs”, which can be freely entered into or left, to produce the ability to organize, mobilize and bring together constituents. However now it seems that although under the democratic structure it is still very difficult for political parties to use so-called strict discipline to control members, individual bodies with strong missions and senses of responsibility, and possessing strong contributive spirits, can very easily organize and create “a turning of the tide” and “miracles”. This also adds dramatic and theatrical results for elections’ multi-party competitive tussles.

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      After observing and analyzing Menino’s actions throughout the years, it seems that the label of “people-oriented, serves the voters” could be used by Menino to openly describe his idea of government administration. This kind of idea has been fully embodied in the planning and implementation of the Innovation District. The construction of the average industrial park faces two difficult choices:: either creating a good environment and then looking for businesses, or first recruiting businesses and then creating a good environment. Some people have called this a problem of “which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” In the construction sequence and in infrastructure’s function and design, Menino used a method that was close to peoples’ needs, by first starting a series of Service Park entrepreneur projects.

In April of this year, the Boston Innovation Center (temporary name, a more permanent name is still under consideration) began construction; this is the opening work for Menino in creating a good environment for the Innovation District. Total investment in the Center is 5.5 million US dollars, and it is designed to be a one-story building occupying 12,000 square feet (about 1,115 square meters), with a construction completion and opening date of spring, 2013. The Innovation Center will be comprised of a 9,000 square foot (about 836 square meters) public space and a 3,000 square foot (about 279 square meters) cafeteria. The public space will include several conference rooms, classrooms and exhibition halls, so that several types of dialogue activities, such as conferences, forums and expos/conventions, can be held. After construction is completed, this Center will be opened for free to newly created companies and their employees.

The Boston Innovation Center is responsible for the goals of promoting dialogue and communication, fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and promoting industrial development.  Menino has in the past pointed out that “The Center will be the first building of its kind in Boston, and will be a core part of our city’s innovative facilities … perhaps the next billion dollar idea will be born here.” The Center’s investment came from two companies- Boston Global Investors, and Morgan Stanley-, and the government, after a period of ten years of free use, will return the handling of the Center to its developer(s) (as one of the conditions for obtaining the Seaport Square’s business license). After construction on the Center is complete, its operations will be contracted out by The Boston Redevelopment Authority to the Cambridge Innovation Center, using the cafeteria’s profits to maintain normal operations for the Center.

The Boston Innovation Center’s functions will be close to that of the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) Center built by the Microsoft Corporation in Cambridge, but the Boston Innovation Center will be the first public innovation center in the nation. A difference between this Center’s functions and those of the Cambridge Innovation Center is that this center will not accept companies on a long-term basis, but will only provide companies with short-term use inside the Innovation District.  The Boston Innovation Center’s construction and operation models will also display Menino’s and his team’s innovative thought processes.

How can affordable use housing be provided to employees of companies entering the Innovation District? This has also become one of the problems which Menino has made great efforts to solve. He promoted the  “ONEin3” conference (a survey found that 30% of Boston’s residents are young people between 20 and 34), and has also appealed for developers to construct mini-apartments that can be rented for low prices to entrepreneurs and science and technology employees, calling these mini-apartments by the name of Innovation Units. In order to construct these Innovations Units, he has used legal processes to change the standard for apartments’ dimensions. He had to due this as the City Government’s regulations previously stated that the dimensions of Boston’s smallest apartments’ should not be less than 450 square feet (about 50 square meters), however estimates for the mini-apartments were that if rents were to be kept controlled at 1500 US dollars per month, mini-apartments containing only a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom would only be able to have dimensions of 350 square feet (about 42 square meters).

After this, the City Government invited famous design company ADD Design (ADD Inc.) to carry out full market research and come up with a specific, applicable implementation strategy for the mini-apartments. 300 “micro-units” with dimensions from 300 to 450 square feet (about 28 to 50 square meters) will, in accordance with ADD Design’s design plan, be built at the four residential projects on which construction has begun inside the Innovation District.. After construction these mini-apartments will be rented out at low prices to the government to help the government attract young entrepreneurial talent and the “creative class” to come live in them.

Under the unremitting efforts of Menino and the Innovation District’s management team, the Innovation Disctrict’s environment has obtained clear improvements. Several specialty cafeterias, bars, etc. have opened one after another, communication and internet service providers have energetically opened services, and go-between firms such as law firms, accounting firms and corporate innovation centers have arrived one after another Some large corporations- such as Fidelity Investments, etc.- that have in the past considered moving services to Boston, plan to move their headquarters to Boston and also increase their level of investment, and even a gardening organization plans to use fresh flowers and plants to dress up the bridge connecting the city with the Innovation District to obtain more notice from tourists and city residents. The need to satisfy peoples’ needs has brought forth a fervor for construction from city residents and various organizations, and this kind of fervor has itself positively influenced others and carried with it the input of even more strength into the project; all of Boston, with the Innovation District at its core, has dug up a new construction fever.

Menino is in the midst of using a string of “small” actions, using the needs of entrepreneurs to embark upon this effort, thus successfully resolving the “which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” problem that the Innovation District frequently met with in its early start up phases. These methods of his are in actuality also a development and expansion of Boston’s culture and tradition of governance. As Edward Glaeser pointed out in an important article regarding Boston’s development: ” From its earliest years, Boston existed not only as a production center, but even more as a place where people wanted to live: she is a consumption city. As people want to live and work there, whenever the economy met with trouble, residents chose to stand fast and innovate.”

Through the development strategy of the Innovation District, we can also clearly see that a so-called consumption city must start from small matters such as its residents’ clothing, sustenance, living, transportation, etc. needs, and must do its best to create a safe, convenient and livable city environment. Many seemingly trivial and ordinary matters, are actually those that can best cultivate good feelings by city residents for their city and faith in their government, and it is also these ordinary affairs that can encourage city residents to carry out investment and consumption without excessive worry. Moreover, during key and difficult times in a city’s development, a city’s culture and civilized spirit, having been slowly and painstakingly built, will make itself manifest and create enormous power for good.

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       Boston’s emphasis on, and attraction to, talent does not only stop at creating a comfortable living environment, nor does it stop at providing employment positions and opportunities to start companies, but also is displayed in the use of innovative science and technology and the products of this. Innovation economist Scott Kirsner long ago wrote about this quality of Boston in his article Innovation City. He believes, that Massachusetts residents quality of both daring to and liking to try new products and new technology has greatly inspired inventors and entrepreneurs to continuously go and create. As innovation and creation have a market here, expended effort can quickly gain acknowledgement and returns. Today, the scope of consumers for innovative products has far surpassed that of individual residents, companies, groups and government, and such consumers long ago already became an important client base.

Through the bio-med, clean energy and computing information technology concentrated in the Innovation District, it can be seen that Boston is an energetic advocate and leading user of many new technologies. Indeed, the Greater Boston Area has eight famous university medical schools, and countless medical organizations. Mass General Hospital, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital are always in the front ranks of American hospital rankings. Mass General Hospital not only ranked number one in the 2011 American Comprehensive Hospital Rankings, but is also Massachusetts’s largest private employer, with 23,000 employees. The Boston area has enormous needs for new pharmaceuticals, new instruments, new apparatus, and new treatment methods. Many clinical medical hospitals and R&D organizations frequently open mutual dialogue and cooperation with companies in related fields, causing the Boston area to become a key center in world pharmaceutical research and development.

Strict standards have been formulated for the Innovation District, requiring that developers do their utmost to use leading environmental friendly and energy conserving science and technology and products, and some companies entering the park have even used technologies that have never been used before. Meandering along Boston’s avenues, high efficiency environmentally friendly and energy conserving BigBelly Solar trash cans can be seen everywhere, produced by a local enterprise. Rental bike stations designed for pedestrian used, called “The Hubway”, have been sensibly placed at transportation junctures. Those who like driving can also enjoy the fast easy car rental service provided by Zipcar.

Last year Boston ranked third on the America’s Greenest Cities ranking, and has been selected as The Best City for Walking in the USA many times, as well as America’s Healthiest City. This green, healthy wave has also touched upon the Innovation District. Computer Information Technology has been widely used in city governance. Graduates of the Harvard Kennedy School working at Boston City Hall have used email to send out introductions to professors excitedly describing the work they’re currently working on; as a daughter project of New Urban Mechanics , we are in the midst of developing a piece of software post haste. After it is successfully developed, all you’ll need to do is to install the software into your cell phone, and once your car begins travelling in the Boston area, we’ll be able to track the rise and fall of your car caused by bumps in the road. After we’ve collected enough information, timely repairs can be carried out to roads affected by such bumps; the large-scale use of information technology will greatly promote the improvement of attention to detail in city management.

The city of Boston is also overflowing with the ideas and fervor of young people, and continuously gives birth to youthful wisdom and inspiration, and I’ll give two examples of this here. The first is, at the end of July, the Pandolfo brothers, for whom the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, held an exhibition, created several huge murals on buildings in the busy city district. One of these murals created a huge public debate, and was called “The Giant of Boston”; this mural has a dimension of 5000 square feet (about 465 square meters), and made an entire building used for ventilation for the Big Dig, located at a busy intersection, into colorful graffiti. This work’s photo was uploaded onto Fox Boston’s Facebook page on August 4th, and the original will be preserved until the end of November for viewing. What is the meaning behind the painting?

City residents can post any of their opinions about the mural on Facebook. Most city residents see it as both a work undertaken for the public good as well as for philanthropy. Some people have praised this work as giving Boston’s streets “color and energy”, giving rise to citizens’ curiosity and imagination. However, many people have connected this painting with 9/11 and terrorism, and not only have expressed their dislike of this, but also suspiciously ask “why did Menino allow them to paint in this place?” Moreover, one of the brothers who created this work, Gustavo, once said, “You should draw whatever you want, and I don’t care whether it’s illegal or not. Cities are just my canvas for painting.” The other brother, Otavia, added, “Surprise is a good thing, it can make life move the human heart.” This completed “illegal” enormous work still stands on the street today, silently accepting the praise and criticism of passerby.

The other example/story is one that occurred to a young Boston resident named Blake Boston. The roots of the incident can be traced back to 6 years ago, when Blake Boston’s adopted mother happened to take a picture of him. In the picture Boston was wearing a baseball cap and collared fur coat, coolly standing in a brave posture, in the hallway of his home. Sixteen year old Boston put this photo on his MSN without much thought, hoping to share it with his friends, and mother and son both thought this was the end of the matter. However, this photo suddenly became greatly popular on the internet two years ago when it was altered by an unknown person to become a meme (meaning a cultural factor that spreads from person to person), and given the name “Scumbag Steve”. In an instant, Blake Boston became the poster-boy of those street kids living fast lives and looking for trouble (doing drugs, drinking alcohol, petty theft, etc.)

Blake Boston’s Facebook page exploded with large amounts of visitors, and the assault on the person of Scumbag Steve continued unabated. He and his adopted mother fell into the depths of previously unknown anxiety and bewilderment, and over the next several days, he chose to stand up for himself, by making online arguments for his innocence , asking for the website(s) to delete the posts, and calling for understanding and respect from web users. However all of this only achieved the opposite effect, only added fuel to the fire. The baseball cap, with small square designs imprinted on it, that he had worn at the time of the picture especially became the tool of internet-users in making their jokes; the first online portrayal showed the cap being worn on the head of ex-Egyptian president Mubarak, and the cap then became a symbol for contrary ideas, and photo-shopped by internet-users onto the heads of the people they didn’t like, with even Obama being unable to avoid such pictures being made of him.

The incident became more serious and more serious as it continued, to the point that Blake Boston was often noticed by people when walking on the street, with people sometimes asking him whether or not he was “Scumbag Steve”. At a loss, Blake Boston finally decided to change his attitude. He decided to accept reality and make “Scumbag Steve” into a brand to sell, and used this opportunity to help himself, as he liked performing rap music, enter the world of entertainment. He ordered limited edition baseball caps and sold them at high prices online, every week produced a rap song with “Scumbag Steve” as its gimmick, and laughed along with all those internet-users who recognized him in real life. Today, he has his own band and manager, and has thoroughly escaped the former money problems he had when he was unemployed and living at home.

Having written to here, I can’t contain my own secret surprise in one matter: doesn’t the city of Boston’s various methods and actions, and the city’s personality that these reflect, completely meet the requirements of Professor Richard Florida’s 3T theory?! Professor Florida has been called a “star professor” in North America. The scope of his research is quite large, and he has conducted intense research into regional economics and public policies, etc. He also is very good at taking his own academic work and making them into public products for business and sale, and it is said that he ranks with Bill Clinton and Bill Gates as famous speech-givers.

Florida’s landmark work is The Rise of the Creative Class, published in 2002. In this book he systematically expounds on the core ideas of how a creative city’s development is formed, these being Technology, Talent, and Tolerance. The ability to attract and serve talent, fostering and using science and technology, and diversity in culture are the basic pillars of creative cities such as San Francisco, New York and Boston. Although more than a few scholars have criticized the logic and rigorousness of Professor Florida’s theory as being clearly inadequate, if the real path trodden by the city of Boston, no matter whether taken as a compilation of experience or as a theoretical guide, is analyzed, these theories of Professor Florida all have extraordinary meaning.

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      The construction of the Innovation District and Boston’s rise despite current conditions, have not only provided new experiences for America’s economic development, but have also added a fresh new example for the long-debated problem of developmental trends in post-industrial cities. A group of scholars, including Edward Glaeser, Richard Florida, Bruce Katz and Saskia Sassie, have energetically advocated using innovative economics and smart growth to promote cities’ prosperity and revitalization, in this way thoroughly helping to reverse the problem of city centers declining due to the middle class spreading to the suburbs. During this process, the political and business, academic spheres have maintained unusually close contacts and cooperation.

In America, scholars go through intense, hard work in researching problems, and politicians and entrepreneurs listen to ideas from academia with genuine interest, and courageously undertake real exploration in related theories. Therefore, and due also to the fact that roles and positions in this relationship are often swapped, and the political, business, and academic spheres have formed a reliable, highly efficient mutual and beneficial cycle. Here, study for practical use, and the idea that knowledge and action go hand in hand, are no longer just ideals to pursue, but rather have become an active reality.

Most recently, Professor Florida, wrote an article in The Atlantic Cities, in which he ardently called for re-elected President Obama to place importance on the development of metropolitan areas, and use this to promote economic growth and employment growth: “When we can see the US economy as the combination of cities and metropolitan areas economies, not just as a single national economy, what appears in front of us is a completely different image”. At the end of his article Florida clearly advised,” if we want to return to growth and create jobs, America needs to throw off its national economic policy/strategy as quickly as possible, and should instead place our sights on those many cities and large metropolitan areas that will show us how to emerge from our difficulties.” This is truly very similar in spirit to Menino, in 2008, calling for the two presidential candidates at the time to place more attention on the problems of cities!

Two weeks ago, I specially invited old college classmates who had come to America to take part in training to go have dinner at Anthony’s Pier 4 restaurant in the Innovation District, in the hopes that they could personally experience Boston’s developmental pulse through the Innovation District. This restaurant is a family-operated, specialty restaurant, started by Anthony Athanas in 1963. Since the restaurant’s opening, it has attracted many famous officials and famous people from Massachusetts and even the whole country, and its fame is similar to that of Beijing’s Quanjude restaurant.

Mr. Athanas called for the improvement and transformation of this district in the 1980s. His thoughts at the time were that he wanted to take planning for Pier 4 out of the industrial district and change it to be part of a mixed-use business community, creating many office buildings, residential buildings, parks and restaurants. Mr. Athanas’s dream for this district’s development has finally been realized! However, what he perhaps didn’t expect, is that the restaurant’s current incarnation will be replaced by a one acre waterfront park, and that the soon-to close restaurant run by his descendants has yet to confirm where it will reopen.

After dinner we walked to the balcony in front of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and looked at the sparkling lights of Boston’s center in the night, seemingly both close and yet far away. Looking at the Fine Arts Museum and a few not-distant tall buildings, the future of the Innovation District seemed almost close enough to touch: everywhere you looked were construction sites and expansive open-air parking lots, providing onlookers with material for infinite daydreams.

Innovation District’s planning and start have displayed Menino’s wisdom and resolution, and the fact that Boston, considering how precious its land is, could still have such a large space for its growth, makes it seem that the heavens have blessed and favored Menino! No matter whether Menino’s physical condition does or doesn’t allow him to obtain a 6th term as mayor, and no matter whether the Innovation District is ultimately finished under his watch, the Innovation District has already become the greatest political legacy of Menino’s political career. Perhaps only the Big Dig, completed in 2007, can compare with the Innovation District- which helps in “moving the center to the south [of Boston], [and] developing along the waterfront”- in having such a giant influence on Boston.

Yesterday Brigham and Women’s Hospital held a press conference regarding Menino’s health. He was finally diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, and still needs to be transferred to another hospital for further recovery treatment. Although just a spectator, I still whole-heartedly hope he can return to health soon, win re-election, and finally make the Innovation District into an exemplary work.

I remember that when I worked in Changping, I encouraged cadres to read a report entitled Grass of the Sun-Standout Female Entrepreneur Shi Jingxian’s Legend, and during this time I also went multiple times to see the bedridden Shi Jingxian herself. The reason I esteemed her so greatly is because while working in Changping she did two things. One was setting up one of China’s famous light industries at the time–the Beijing Baowenping (Thermos Bottle) Factory. The second is that she advocated restoring the Ming tombs and other cultural relics and opening them up to tourists.

I have always believed, that it is very difficult for a person to successfully and truly complete one or two accomplishments in their life, and that in order to get the opportunity to complete such an accomplishment, we have to spend long hours in preparation and waiting. Shi Jingxian was fortunate because she didn’t lose the opportunity to complete these tasks, and thus lived a life without regrets! I hope that fortune also likewise smiles on Menino! Having been abroad for two years, I don’t know how Mrs. Shi has been doing recently, and so would truly like to wish her: Good peace, health and happiness to such an outstanding person.

 

To thank all you readers in your patience for finishing this article, I’ve provided “Scumbag Steve’s” first song for your listening pleasure.

 

 

A Chinese version of the article can be found at Sina Financial and Economics Blog.

Innovation District: Boston’s  “South City Action Plan”

The good city is innovative and fun; it is prosperous; it strives for justice and sustainability- and above all, it is alive. —— Paul S. Grogan

All politics is local. —— Tip O’Neill

 

If one were asked to single out the most difficult role to play on the political stage of Massachusetts, the mayor of Boston would be the default answer. It can be explained by two reasons: firstly, the Greater Boston area has long been among the world cities and Boston is no doubt the center of the area. Therefore, any moves made by the mayor would exert significant impacts on the region and its surroundings. Such a fact requires the mayor to possess sufficient foresight and superb leadership. Secondly, as the capital of Massachusetts, Boston is both an independent city with its own constituency and the key area for state governance. Indeed, the state government and the city hall are located within half a miles from each other at the heart of the city. It is therefore very natural that the two governments would frequently find itself at odds with the other on various issues, ranging from development goals, project selection, construction timetable and specific operational plans. As a result, the post of mayor requires strong communication and coordination skills. To borrow the words from Chinese officialdom, the situation of Boston mayor is comparable to that of “Peking officials.” However, the incumbent Mayor Thomas M. Menino has served in this position for nineteen years, finishing up his fifth term next year. In light of the general popularity and his overall performance record, Menino is believed to be the most accomplished and popular mayor in the history of Boston.

Menino was born into an ordinary Italian immigrant family at Hyde Park, Boston. He received his higher education at University of Massachusetts Boston. Prior to taking the mayorship in 1993, Menino had served for ten years on Boston’s city council. Up to the present, he has never left Boston, his beloved city where he grew up, went to school and then work, got married and had children.  Ever since he first took office,  Menino has demonstrated strong dedication and an undivided attention to build a better city. Making full use of his major in community planning and with the most ardent enthusiasm and attention to details, Menino devotes himself to neighborhood development. For nearly two decades, he has visited individual homes and streets to examine and resolve problems. From cleaning up the parks and fixing the streetlights, to selecting location for convenience stores and repairing the sewage system, nothing is too trivial for Menino. When new projects come up, he is delighted to supervise every aspect of the construction, be it site selection, planning, supporting infrastructure building or exterior design. His burly figure often appears at the street corners, restaurants, bars, shopping centers and the barbers’. A survey conducted by a local media in 2009 showed that about 59% of the citizens had private talks with the mayor. He is omniscient. It is hard to tell if such is his innate leadership style or deliberative policy strategy. In short, his tireless work ethic and attention to the basics that make for a thriving city won him the reputation of “urban mechanics” early in his career.  His most distinguished achievements include promoting the growth of medium-size and small businesses, supporting education innovation, revitalizing cooperation-based community culture and clamping down on crime, for which he has been recognized as a national leader on urban neighborhood governance.

At 69 years old, Menino has been constantly bothered by minor health problems. His eye surgery and leg operation were both topics of local media reporting. His extremely strong Boston accent earned him the nickname Mumbles. For all appearances, he stands as strikingly different from the young, upbeat and eloquent American politicians we often see on TV. But beware such should not trick you into believing that Menino is no man of charm and competence. On the contrary, he has shown extraordinary insight and courage for innovation during his entire mayoralty. At the inauguration speech of his unprecedented fifth term, Menino pledges a new era of “shared innovation,” jointly built by the administration and the people; he promises to create a continuum of educational opportunities for the city’s youth, from dusk to dawn and from birth through college; he aims to revitalize the undeveloped parts of the city and construct a sustainable and shared innovation economy; he advocates civil entrepreneurship as a proper means to initiate a wave of urban innovation; he is committed to a culture of “inclusiveness” to bring the city even closer together across varied backgrounds. The whole Boston gathered under his championship. With criticism of “hopelessly myopic” and “lacking in spirits” against Menino the workaholic swiftly disappearing, his new initiatives are all making steady progress, among which the South Boston Innovation District is unequivocally the most prominent. Indeed, Menino’s South Boston “action plan” kicked off a new round of urban construction and has made great contributions to the city’s reviving economy. Innovation District, shortened as ID, is a new “ID” for Boston proper.

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Located at the old south seaport of Boston, Innovation District is nestled between Boston’s transportation gateways: abutting historic Boston Harbor, adjacent to Logan International Airport, and at the nexus of two major interstate highways. The 1,000 acres of residential, commercial, and industrial space includes Fort Point, Pan Pier, Seaport, Liberty Wharf, Channel Center as well as parts of the Financial and Leather districts. Before Menino rechristened it as Boston’s Innovation District and vowed to help companies large and small, this part of the city had been home to Seaport World Trade Center, Boston Convention and Exhibition Center, and Marine Industrial Park. However, in the past decades, it remained a largely empty land with abandoned factories and gravels that attracted only artists to work or wander around.

Innovation District has clear and distinctive principles, goals and strategies. In Menino’s opinion, people in clusters innovate at a quicker rate, sharing technologies and knowledge easier and thereby increasing productivity. So he was determined to create a place, in midst of the economic recovery, for the best ideas to collide and the most promising entrepreneurs to meet and communicate. By assisting entrepreneurs to develop their business, more work opportunities will come along and the economy will grow. The ambition of Innovation District is not limited to another typical regional innovation economy cluster In Massachusetts like Kendall Square, Route 128 and Longwood Medical and Academic Area, but extends to building a vigorous and vibrant urban community with experiences and lessons borrowed from San Francisco and New York. To reach such an end, Innovation District defines its theme as “work, live and play,” that is, to build a multi-functional urban community that combines business and jobs, comfortable and convenient living, as well as leisure and fun. In addition to an abundance of collaborative venues, research and development space, Menino has spurred the investment of monies in transportation and municipal infrastructure. He has also made available a wide variety of housing choices as well as a large number of dinning and entertainment options. I cannot help but be reminded of a slogan on posters all over Changping when I started to work there: Let’s make Changping the first choice for investment and entrepreneurship, living and residing, tourism and leisure. Much encouraged, I understand how difficult it would be to turn these words into reality on the 300 thousand-acre land of Changping. To see such a seemingly unattainable goal being implemented in an orderly manner here at the Innovation District, I was simply overcome with emotion.

Being an opportune project, Innovation District has had a smooth first two years. Statistically, by February this year, over one hundred new companies had moved to the area, bringing more than three thousand new jobs. It is fair to say that Innovation District has managed to seize three opportunities. First of all, limited office space in Kendall Square drives rents up, and the soaring price forces many start-ups to look for more affordable place. Besides, as the second-time host of the BIO International Convention, Massachusetts consolidated its leadership in the world’s biomedical and pharmaceutical industry, attracting a number of multi-national corporations, European companies in particular, to relocate or open branches in the Greater Boston area.  Thirdly, against the backdrop of current global economic recession, Greater Boston is able to keep a relatively strong economic growth rate, highlighted by its featured innovation economy. With biomedical, clean energy and information technology, among others, being the primary industries, Innovation District has initiated a new economic path marked by multi-industry, diversified development as well as integration of industry, academia and research.  Some of the companies and institutions that have moved to Innovation District include: MassChallenge, Greentown Labs (Boston’s first clean tech incubator), Oasys Water (committed to developing breakthrough technologies to address the growing global water crisis), Space with a Soul (a non-profit accelerator), Babson Boston, Gezelle (sale of used electronics), Gemvara (customized jewelry making), Crimson Hexagon (social media monitoring analysis), NPR Digital (digital platform service), Buzzient (social media tools), Boston Society of Architects (a nonprofit membership organization committed to architecture, design and the built environment). In 2013, two well-known companies, Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Zipcar will make Innovation District their home. The new headquarter of Vertex, a $900 million development plan under construction, is presently the largest private sector construction project in the nation. So, to respond to one of the comments made on my blog- “could you predict the most promising industry along Route 128?” my answer would be: Massachusetts’ innovation economy has stopped relying on one or a few industries; rather, Route 128, Red line innovation corridor and Innovation District have all presented a mixed development of multiple industries and it is thus hard to predict which one of them would become the new star. These industries’ shared advantages lie in knowledge and technology. Innovation activities are concentrated on basic research, product development and lean production. The most distinguished characteristics of the enterprises can be summarized as small scale, big investment, and high return.

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The rise of Innovation District, viewed in a broader perspective, mirrors the revival of urban culture in Boston and America at large, thanks to the coordinated efforts of politicians, entrepreneurs and intellectuals. According to the studies of Edward Glaeser, professor of Urban Economics at Harvard University, downtown Boston showed signs of decline in the 1920s, hit bottom in the 1950s, and did not get back on its feet until the late 1980s. Glaeser’s observation could be verified by two facts. The first is the curious absence of any large-scale commercial building in Boston downtown amidst the building boom between 1950 and 1957 that created Route 128 as well as the industrial parks and commercial facilities along the line. The second is the disappointing result of the fundraising campaign led by the then mayor Kevin White and developer James Rouse in 1975 for renovating two cultural heritage sites—Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall. Their proposal met unanimous disapproval from the city’s banks, as no one saw it a promising project. But Boston was not the only city hit by a downturn in fortune during the early part of the twentieth century—Detroit, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Cleveland followed suit. With the wholesale exodus of residents and jobs, the once glamorous downtown areas deteriorated into a nightmare of blight, decay and danger, filled with disease, poverty and crime. It was not until the 1980s that cities like Boston and San Francisco with unique human resources bounced back with the advent of information technology revolution, and recovered their former prosperity as new consumer cities.

While urban life invokes tribute and longing in Europe and Asia, it enjoys much less glorification in America. “Ambivalent” may best characterize its status in the American psyche. Paul Grogan attributes, and rightly so, the negative image to one of the nation’s founding fathers and America’s third president, Thomas Jefferson, who famously declared that “cities contain all that is pestilential to the morals and moods of mankind.” Jefferson’s curse had substantially lowered American people’s estimation of cities, and the prejudice was only confirmed and deepened with people’s redefinition and pursuit of the American Dream: it was not about living in the gay and debauchery cities of high-rise buildings, but rather about enjoyig detached houses with spacious lawns, private swimming pools and groups of children—an orderly and civilized life in the suburbs in close contact with nature. Besides, the federal government had been the unwitting accomplice during the decline of cities. Such combined policies as the construction of federal highways, mortgage-interest deduction for suburban housing, generous support for automobile industries and long term fuel subsidies have all driven people to settle in the suburbs and left downtown to the homeless. However, the battle to rescue downtown from decline has never ceased, at least in Boston. In the political arena, Francis Sargent, governor of Massachusetts (1969-1975), vetoed a plan for Boston’s Inner Belt highway, making a timely effort to prevent Boston from further decline. Since 1960s, successive mayors of Boston from John Hynes through John Collins to Kevin White and Thomas Menino have all made unflagging efforts for the city’s revival. Their long terms, ranging from eight to twenty years, also ensured the continuity and longevity of policies, and promoted Boston’s steady course to prosperity. Business leaders have also made laudable contributions. Teradyne, the manufacturer of automatic test equipment, had firmly based its offices in downtown Boston since its inception in 1960 until its recent move to North Reading. When I visited Boston Properties last month, I learned from Michael LaBelle, the vice president, that the company has been, for the past forty years of its growth, focusing on high quality and high end office buildings and commercial complexes in the metropolis and never engaged in suburban projects. The company itself is headquartered in its masterpiece architecture, the famous Copley Place in central Boston.

Did the rebirth of Boston promote the status and importance of cities in general? Perhaps not in the opinion of Menino. During an interview at the end of 2007, he chafed at media’s lack of attention to urban affairs, and registered his disappointment that the importance of urban governance and urban problems seemed to have eluded the minds of the two presidential candidates. He cautioned America’s hope should reside in well-developed cities, and that the key to urban governance should be education, economy, housing, and public safety. Above all, innovation should remain the source and core power for the urban revival. Scholars have also risen to the defense of cities. In his 2011 book Triumph of the City, Professor Glaeser offered policy suggestions to the federal government and envisioned the beautiful future of urban civilization, based on his studies of the developmental history of the world’s famous cities. The book’s subtitle presents a powerful argument for the city: how our greatest invention makes us richer, smarter, greener, healthier and happier. Glaeser believes that in the new information age of globalization, physical distance no longer poses obstacle to communication, yet still most innovative ideas are generated through frequent and direct interaction and communication between people. Therefore he is a firm supporter and advocate for building skyscrapers and nurturing urban industrial clustering. No evidence has been found to suggest that Glaeser’s book has inspired Menino’s launching of Innovation District, but Glaeser and Menino certainly have shared some common beliefs. The official website of the Innovation District proposes that “Distance equals death,” as in contrast to the “Death of distance” theory of the British economist Frances Cairncross. But a closer reading of Cairncross’s work leads me to realize that the two notions are not intrinsically contradictory but rather address different issues. On the one hand, the extensive use of information technology has greatly reduced the time and cost of interpersonal communications, and in this sense distance has disappeared. On the other hand, the increasingly advanced information technology also calls for face-to-face communication to stimulate new ideas, so it would be rather unwise to give up the physical convenience offered by cities. Glaeser provides academic endorsement for Innovation District, while Cairncross does not necessarily oppose to it.

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Boston World Partnership, which successfully held the “Innovation Express” event, was established with Menino’s endorsement yet operates independently. The main task of BWP is to publicize and promote Innovation District and the “New Urban Mechanics” program. ” “New Urban Mechanics” aims at tackling the basic issues in the city through mustering the passion and wisdom of the constituents. For Menino, civic entrepreneurship, richly embedded in citizens and all kinds of social organizations, needs to be mobilized to resolve even the tiniest problems. Once the various types of foundations, entrepreneurs, tech experts and community residents plunge into this massive innovation campaign, Boston’s lasting prosperity and success will be guaranteed and enhanced.

From being nicknamed as “urban mechanics” to promoting “New Urban Mechanics” in a variety of ways, Menino’s political career seems to have been filled with trivialities. A popular Chinese term “city management” came to my mind. Nonetheless, quite in contrast with the Chinese ways of “making drastic changes,” Menino enhances his favorite city through maintaining the traditional functions and providing basic services. It is through gradual small-scale improvements to address constituent concerns that Menino achieves innovation and makes the big difference. Such is perhaps Menino’s unique approach to city management and may very well be the right one. After years of watching Boston’s development and studying urban policy, Professor Howard Husock from Harvard University made the following remarks: “I think that Mayor Menino has been an important mayor for Boston — and for Democratic mayors across the country especially — because he signaled that a focus on core, traditional services was important. That we should not only think that new projects and changing the face of the city should be the sole focus of a mayor. The delivery of core services is a message that any mayor can take to heart.”

Actively advocating a shared experience for an innovative Boston and perseveringly pursuing inclusion and diversity, Menino has gained support and respect from the voters. Such is also reflected in his attitude toward the Chinese community. Throughout the history of Boston, Menino is the mayor who has paid most visits to Chinatown. His frequent interactions with the Chinese often invite generous coverage by local Chinese media. Recently, Menino vetoed a redistributing plan that would split Chinatown into two parts. The action won him unanimous praise from the Chinese community. On the afternoon of October 12, 2012, together with Harvard President Drew Faust, Menino attended the donation ceremony by the Chao family to Harvard Business School. Noting that people of Chinese descent now comprise Boston’s second largest immigrant group, Menino called the accomplishments of the Chaos as a prime example of a family that had lived the American dream. Humorously, Menino mentioned that the size of Harvard’s Boston campus exceeds that of its Cambridge campus and that the new building at HBS made possible by Chao’s funds will have to get his approval.  He also took the opportunity to express his genuine wish for more innovation resources into Boston. Following the news that Boston outpaced San Francisco’s Bay area and became the most innovative city in the world, the China Press published an article on October 20 to further introduce the great contributions made to Boston by scientists of Chinese decent. I sincerely hope that Boston will carry on such an honor and that more and more American Chinese will join the force. Together, we will inject more Chinese elements into Boston’s vitality.

 

 

References:

Boston’s Innovation District. City of Boston. Web. 26 Oct. 2012. <http://www.innovationdistrict.org/>.

“Case Study: The Boston Waterfront Innovation District.” SustainableCitiesCollective. N.p., 27 July 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2012. <http://sustainablecitiescollective.com/ecpa-urban-planning/27649/case-study-boston-waterfront-innovation-district>.

City of Boston.“The Strategy.” Boston’s Innovation District. June 28, 2010. Accessed June 23, 2011 <http://www.innovationdistrict.org/about-2/the-strategy/>.

Farrel, Michael. “High-tech Firms Find Fertile Turf in South Boston.” Seaport Innovation District. N.p., 23 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Oct. 2012. <http://seaportinnovationdistrict.com/2012/south-boston-waterfront-innovation-district/>.

Mayor’s Office. City of Boston. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

<http://www.cityofboston.gov/mayor/>.

Hiestand, Emily, and Ande Zellman, eds. The Good City: Writers Explore 21st Century Boston. Boston: Beacon, 2004. Print.

Patton, Zach. “The Boss of Boston: Mayor Thomas Menino.” Governing the States and Localities. N.p., Jan. 2012. Web. Oct. 2012. <http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-boss-of-boston-mayor-thomas-menino.html>.

Tsipis, Yanni and David Kruh. Building Route 128. Charleston, SC: Arcadia, c2003.

 

Innovation Economy and an Economic “Oasis”

        If America wants to be a healthy, smart, rich, globalized, high-tech powerhouse, we arguably have no better model than Massachusetts.

—— Mark Vanhoenacker

       After the outbreak of the financial crisis, it did not take long for many U.S. economists and business leaders to recognize that innovation economy would be the key to brake recession and make possible a resurgence.  Paul Krugman defined the “great recession” as “the third depression” in the world’s history, and clearly stated that nothing but a new technological revolution that transforms the lifestyle and modes of production for all humanity could lift us out of the recession and usher in a new wave of economic growth.  Economist Tyler Cowen from George Mason University expressed a very similar view in his book, the Great Stagnation. Failing to accurately predict the crisis and defuse it in a timely manner, economists from various schools have been under great pressure. Yet while continuing to quarrel over the causes of the recession and short-term measures against it, few questioned or challenged the above positions. In the business arena, Warren Buffett have stricken home his point repeatedly: the value of the American system lies in innovation which unleashes human potential; innovation will lead America out of the predicament.  Steve Jobs also showed his confidence and believed that “as long as we innovate, we will be fine”. Gary Shapiro, CEO of American Consumer Electronics Association launched the innovation movement, a coalition of 100,000 citizens, wishing for a revival of innovation economy to spur America’s Comeback.

Winning the 2008 presidential election by advocating “change”, Obama has launched a series of policies and measures to promote innovation and economic development. In September 2009, he released “A Strategy for American Innovation: Driving towards Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs”. In his 2011 State of the Union Address, Obama proposed “Startup America Initiative”. In February 2011, he announced the “Wireless innovation and Infrastructure Initiative” and “Better Building Initiative”. The “Government Reform for Competitiveness and Innovation Initiative” was established in his Presidential Memorandum in March 2011. Very recently in March 2012, Obama advanced manufacturing initiatives to drive innovation, create job growth and ultimately improve America’s competitiveness in global trade. For the Democratic Party and the Republican Party who have plunged into an unprecedented political fight, innovation has been one of the two issues on which both can easily reach consensus (the other is said to be criticism on China’s human rights situation). These initiatives, rekindling Americans’ hope and refreshing their commitment to innovation, increased investments in basic scientific research and proved effective in supporting clean energy development. However, the two parties diverge again when it comes to the intention and impacts of such initiatives. Hardcore Republicans see Obama’s policies as a continuation of the Bush Administration, with no novelty in content or effectiveness in execution. Obama’s followers, on the contrary, firmly believe that America has finally made its way back on the right path. For them, it was due to the lack of foresight and the mistakes of the previous administration that the present polices are taking longer to show their effects.

Along with the increasingly raucous party brawls, America’s recovery has been full of twists and turns. The revolutionary breakthrough in science and technology, much longed for by everyone, seems unlikely to take place in the near future. The economy has not fared well in the past few months: high unemployment rate (risen to 8.3% in July 2012), slow growth rate (1.5% for the 2nd quarter of 2012), persistently low consumer confidence (latest reported to hit the bottom in July 2012) …… All of these not only fogged the prospects of the nation’s economic recovery, but also cast a heavy shadow on Obama’s efforts to seek reelection. Some have even begun to question if America’s competitive advantage, centering on innovation, is gradually lost. The 40th Republican National Convention, closed just this past Friday, not only made official the nominees for the 2012 Presidential election, but tirelessly hammered the Obama administration’s poor economic performance, especially when it comes to job creation and innovation.  Fortunately, there remain a few unyielding oases in the largely devastated desert, which somehow represent and indicate the future hope of a 21-century “innovation America”. Massachusetts is among the most convincing ones.

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       Although Massachusetts has to bear the same troubles and miseries brought by the recession, it was able to buck the trend and had a couple of good shows. In comparison to the nation’s flagging economic situation that has lasted for a while, Massachusetts’ performance, if not outshining all others, has certainly been eye-catching.

• Massachusetts was eleven months later than the nation to enter recession (recession in Massachusetts started in November 2008 vs. December 2007 for the nation); in March 2010, Massachusetts took the lead into recovery. Its economic growth rate is over twice the national average (growth rate 4% in Q2, 2012).
• Unemployment rate in Massachusetts has been far lower than the national average (June 2012: US 8.2%, MA 6%); it created the record of a consecutive 16-month job growth during the recession.
• In March 2012, Massachusetts regained the top spot on 11^th Annual State Competitiveness Report, issued by the Beacon Hill Institute at Suffolk University (it was the third in 2010).
• Massachusetts ranked the first on Kauffman Foundation’s 2010 State New Economy Index. Washington came in second with an obvious gap.
• Boston, Massachusetts’ capital city, successfully broke into Economist magazine’s Global City Competitiveness Index, ranking top 10.
• In October 2010, American Council for an Energy Efficiency Economy placed Massachusetts as the most “energy efficient” state, replacing California.
• According to Massachusetts Divison of Health Insurance Finance and Policy, the state’s insurance coverage ranks first in the nation: the uninsured rate has dropped to 1.8%, and the uninsured rate for children is as low as 0.2%.
• Massachusetts has the best schools in America. Education Week’s 2012 report ranks Massachusetts the second on the overall index; but on two of the index’s most important measures- a lifetime educational Chance for Success index and a K-12 Achievement index, the state leads the nation. According to 2011 Harvard survey, the reading skills of Massachusetts’ high schoolers is fifth worldwide, and math skills the ninth, ahead of both Japan and Germany.

 

Particularly noteworthily, Standard and Poor’s (S&P), in view of the state’s outstanding performance in fiscal control and budget balance for recent years, upgraded the credit rating for Massachusetts to AA+ from AA in September 2011. Previously, the state had gained ratings of Aa1 from Moody’s and AA+ from Fitch. Taken together, this set of ratings gave Massachusetts its highest credit standing in history, contrasting starkly to the fact that S& P downgraded the credit rating for America about a month earlier. Such hard-earned results truly made the government and state legislature leaders happy and excited for quite a while. Most importantly, it added new confidence and motivation to the future development of Massachusetts.

Aiming at promoting collaborative activities among government, industry, universities and research institutes as well as advancing the healthy development of a high-tech oriented knowledge economy, Massachusetts state legislature established a specific economic cooperation organization, Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (shortened as MTC). Ever since 1997, MTC has released Index of the Massachusetts Innovation Economy on a yearly basis.  Through a comparative analysis against other US technology leading states as well as other countries and regions with advanced science and technology, the Index makes an objective evaluation of the annual performance of Massachusetts’ innovation economy, clarifies the elements propelling or constraining innovation and economy, with the hope of providing some valid suggestions to policy makers, business managers and academic leaders. In 2004, MTC founded John Adams Innovation Institute, named after the second president of America, to lead the writing of the report. Beginning with a striking title, “Massachusetts USA leading the Innovation Revolution”, the preamble to the 2011 index fully recognized the state’s remarkable achievements in 2010 and further pointed out, “The Massachusetts Innovation Economy is one of the state’s key advantages in the global economy and an engine of prosperity for our citizens. It is also a source of resilience amidst national and global economic uncertainty.”

This preamble arouses one’s curiosity about the root causes and the historical origins of the economic prosperity and social progress witnessed in the Commonwealth.

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      When it comes to innovation in Massachusetts, almost all commentators would trace its history back to two or three hundreds years ago, or probably even four hundred years ago. Most of them would also be citing the many “best”, “No.1” and “leading place” that the state and the Greater Boston area have created in the history of America in order to reinforce Massachusetts’ position and image of an “innovator”. From the moment in the early seventeenth century when the pilgrims set foot on the continent of North America, settlers of the New England region, those in Massachusetts being the most representative ones, have begun their long journey of arduous pioneering. The dream and efforts of these early colonists to build a “City upon the Hill” reaped rich fruits on this not-so-fertile piece of land.

From the establishment of “Mayflower Compact” to that of the first state constitution, from the first shot in the Independence War to the United States Declaration of Independence (documents record five Massachusetts residents signed it), numerous founding fathers dedicated themselves to the Great American Experiment, drawing the blueprint and laying the rudiment for a future America. By founding Harvard University and opening the first public school in the nation (Boston Latin Grammar School), through building the first free public school (Dorchester Mather School) and opening the first public library (Boston Public Library), Massachusetts has been brave in educational innovation and reforms, finally growing into a world-renowned intellectual city. Inventions in Massachusetts are simply impossible to enumerate: the electric light, the telegraph, the telephone, the computer, the sewing machine, the typewriter, the microwave and the razor; the initial clinical applications of the smallpox vaccine, the anesthetic ether and the penicillin; the first email successfully sent out and the smooth launch of liquid fuel powered rocket- the list goes on and on. Hundreds of thousands inventions and creations as such revolutionized the lifestyle and mode of production of Americans and of people around the world. Besides, Massachusetts was home to the first lighthouse, the first railroad, the first motorcar, the first man-made canal and the first subway line. It also took the lead in introducing the park, the cemetery, the seaside bathing spot, the countryside golf club and other public facilities alike. It was in Massachusetts where the first Thanksgiving was celebrated and the first Christmas card was printed. People in Massachusetts also had the privilege to watch the first basketball and volleyball matches as well as the marathon in 1890s. The “American system of manufacturing”, featured by interchangable parts, later sweeping the world and preceding Ford’s assembly line, claims Massachusetts as its cradle, so does the modern industrial park and venture capital. In one word, invention and innovation are inseparable from the Massachusetts history and have become an engrained cultural gene, unique to the region.

American English has a special word to describe the innovative characteristic of residents in Massachusetts and in the New England region as a whole: Yankee Ingenuity. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “the self-reliance of early colonial settlers of New England, United States”. The phrase is further elaborated as an attitude of make-do with materials on hand: it is “inventive improvisation, adaptation and overcoming of dire straits when faced with a dearth of resources”. I find it not fairly hard to locate an accurate equivalent in Chinese to fully bear the wealth of implications. Indeed, “Yankee ingenuity” is in fact where the nowadays much-lauded  “entrepreneurship” and “innovativeness” derive from. In the Bay state, one sees everywhere the upholding of tradition by the “politically-oriented” Massachusetts people. They not only have “the Spirit of America” engraved on their license plates, but also composed a song with “the Spirit of America” as its title and sing it widely as the unofficial state song.

With a deep understanding of and a warm respect for the history and culture, incumbent Massachusetts governor, Deval L. Patrick, stated proudly so in his first inaugural address: “Massachusetts invented America. American ideals were first spoken here, first dreamed about here… In so many ways, our struggle, our sacrifice, our optimism shaped the institutions and advanced the ideals of the nation.”  “Massachusetts invented America”, how boldly declared! This declaration, causing statewide and lasting resonance in the Commonwealth, was spread and eulogized broadly.

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       It took a long process of gestation and development before the “innovative spirit”grew into an “innovation economy”. With indomitable entrepreneurship, early pilgrims survived the many hardships and promoted the prosperity of business. Massachusetts and throughout the New England region have been leading America’s industrialization ever since they became the birthplace of the nation’s First Industrial Revolution in the mid-nineteenth century. As early as 1920s and 1930s, Massachusetts had witnessed economic transformation and industrial restructuring, both of which quietly carried on during the Great Depression. Starting from the latter part of World War II, as traditional industries accelerated outward migration and the federal government increased R & D investments, high-tech industries began to burgeon and grow in the Bay state. In 1950s and onward, scientists and engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology set out one after another to found high-tech enterprises in suburbs along Route 128, and a variety of resources that had long been stored up in the Greater Boston area swiftly integrated. A large number of entrepreneurial scientists and science-minded entrepreneurs embarked on the journey to open up the brand new field of “innovation economics” with innovative practices.

The thirty years from 1950s to 1980s steeled Massachusetts and got it well prepared for a powerful display of high-tech economy in mid 1980s. Overnight, Route 128 was known as “America’s Technology Highway”, and “Massachusetts Miracle” became a buzzword. However, such happy days did not last long. In late 1980s, Massachusetts once again sank into recession and stagnation. Compared to the shower of praises on Silicon Valley, Massachusetts and Route 128 were mourned by many. It was a moment when the Massachusetts people showed extraordinary courage and calmness. Self-collected, they adhered to a unique path of development and meanwhile, looked to other regions for successful experiences. A desperate counterattack was going on under a seemingly tranquil surface! From the birth of “Massachusetts Miracle” and its disillusionment, to the economy’s resurgence in late 1990s and finally to its prominent position nowadays, the ups and downs are worth a careful study.

Innovation economy has taken on new features in Massachusetts. Firstly, the industrial structure shows a tendency of diversification. Massachusetts’ high-tech industry, commonly viewed as being dominated by computer, information technology and the defense industry, actually includes other areas like financial services, bio-medicine, medical equipment, precision machinery, robotics industry, clean energy, architecture design and social media, all of which have achieved a leading place in the nation. Secondly, a multi-polar industrial layout has developed in Massachusetts. Route 128 remains the core location for high-tech industries, but has extended to Interstate 495. Areas along the subway Red Line and the Innovation District in South Boston have also attracted a considerable number of enterprises and research institutions. In addition to Boston and Cambridge, such satellite towns as Springfield, Worcester, Bedford and Woburn too formed industrial parks with distinctive functions. Thirdly, multilateral collaboration constitutes the impetus for econimic development. While solidifying its own edge, Massachusetts draws on development lessons from other emerging high-tech industrial clusters, Silicon Valley being only one of them, and has nurtured a positive cooperation mechanism made up by universities, research institutions, financial and consulting agencies, enterprises and the government. Cross-industry, cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary scientific and industrial development projects came up in an endless fashion, contributing to the regional economic prosperity. These new trends and features are all built upon innvation economy; in other words, the innovative practices carried out by the various economic elements on all level of economic activities are the fundamental driving force. Put differently, economic growth relies primarily on knowledge creation, technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Scott Kirsner, an active Massachusetts economist and columnist on innovation economics, articulates in his article “Innovation City”, “Boston is a city that attracts people who want to work in industries that have existed here since Massachusetts was a British colony; it is also the city for those who believe that the only industry worth working in is the one they’re about to create.”  Referring to Boston, these words are in fact a true portrayal of the entire Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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      “Innovation economy” is a new term born from the unremitting exploration and successful practice of innovation in Massachusetts. The term makes most frequent appearances in innovation economy index reports and is largely promoted through the efforts of media and consulting agencies in the Greater Boston area. The academic discussion of “innovation”, however, needs to be traced to the classical definition in Joseph Schumpeter’s 1942 book Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy.  In Schumpeter’s opinion, “creative destruction”, as an intrinsic factor of capitalism, describes the phenomenon that commercial enterprises under capitalism destroy and eliminate old technologies and production systems through innovation competition (rather than price competition), break the original market equilibrium and establish a new production system and market order, gaining lucrative profits in the process. Such a concept opened the gate to innovation, from where a novel school of economics-innovation economics- emerged. Attending closely to knowledge, technology, entrepreneurship and the role innovation plays in economic growth, innovation economists, however, rarely use the term “innovation economy”. Similarly, the word “innovation”, in spite of being widely applied in the daily lives of ordinary Americans and broadly employed in the fields of politics, economy, culture and education, is in definition still mainly confined to the scope of technology and economic activities. When I was exploring a new regional development strategy for Changping in 2007 as mayor of the district, I looked extensively for the word “innovation economy” in the literature of innovation economics, but failed to find any. So I summarized my strategy as “ to vigorously develop laboratory economy and build an integrated regional innovation system of industry, academia and research”. As I did not have the access to documents in Massachusetts, I chose “laboratory economy” to carry my idea. Now thinking about it, “Innovation economy” would have been a more appropriate pick.

Guided by the “innovation prophet” Schumpeter, a series of glittering names such as Paul Romer, Elhanan Helpman, Brian Arthur, Robert Axtell, Eric Beinhocker, Richard R. Nelson, Richard Lipsey, Michael Porter and Christopher Freeman stand one after the other as signposts on the “innovation avenue”. The latest progress and breakthrough with innovation economics would have to be Michael Porter’s theory of national and regional competitive advantage. The aforementioned state competitiveness index issued by Suffolk University is exactly based on the measurement system put forward by Porter in discussing national and regional competitive advantage, i.e. eight groups of more than forty indicators altogether with a stress on per capita income and the capacity of sustainable economic growth. Schumpeter was a Harvard professor, so is Porter. From regional competitiveness to innovation economy index, the two reports echo each other, on both of which Massachusetts singles itself out. Can we conclude then, “innovation economy leading regional development” will be the next research subject for innovation economics?

No matter how the academic prospects of “Innovation economics” turn out to be, Massachusetts in THE place to feel the tremendous vitality brought about by “innovation” and “innovation economy”.  Thanks to my previous career experience, I have kept paying special attention to Governor Patrick’s political agenda and performance since I arrived here. His overall political agenda does revolve around “innovation economy” and his daily schedule is filled with innovation businesses: laying the foundation for innovation district, cutting the ribbon of school innovation laboratory, addressing at an annual student conference of history and innovation, proclaiming Massachusetts “innovation month”, writing an open letter to encourage student entrepreneurs and signing Social Innovation Compact with non-profit non-govrenmental agencies, to name only a few. Hardworking, pragmatic and full of pioneering spirits, the governor has won good wills and respect from his citizens. A vigorous advocate for the use of clean energy, an enthusiastic participator in the Race to Top program funded by the US Department of Education, a top leader in the social innovation program Pay for Success, Patrick has been faithfully practicing Obama’s innovation initiatives all along.

Deval Patrick, a Democrat, an African American, is rumored to have very close personal connections with Obama. Will this Democratic political star help Obama keep Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, away from the White House? How much would Massachusetts, as a preliminary manifestation of the power and significance of innovation economy, assist Obama with his final race in November? Let’s wait and see!

 

References:

Cowen, Tyler. The great stagnation: how America ate all the low-hanging fruit of modern history, got sick, and will (eventually) feel better. New York: Dutton, 2011.

Kao, John. Innovation Nation: how America is losing its innovation edge, why it matters, and what we can do to get it back. New York: Free Press, c2007.

Kirsner, Scott. “Innovation City”. The Good City. Ed. Emily Hiestand and Ande Zellman. Boston, Massachusetts: Beacon Press, c2004. 58-73.

“MIT’s 150 Ideas, Inventions and Innovations that Helped Shape Our World.” May 15, 2011. < http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/specials/mit150/mitlist/ >

Porter, Michael E. The Competitive Advantage of Nations. New York: the Free Press, 1990.

Saxenian, Annalee. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994

Schumpeter, Joseph A. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1942.

Vanhoenacker, Mark. “Don’t Mess with the Bay State” . May 14, 2012. <http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/05/massachusetts_is_the_best_state_in_the_union_.html >

 

A Chinese version of the article can be found at Sina Financial and Economics Blog.