Norman Jacknis, Ph.D. is the Senior Fellow at the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). His responsibilities include leading the ICF’s Rural Imperative, building on the ideas he developed for the U.S. Conference of Mayors on a future-oriented economic growth strategy for cities. Dr. Jacknis is the author of numerous articles, including “Beyond Smarter City Infrastructure – The New Urban Experience” and “Transformation of the Local Government CTO/CIO,” and was a panelist at the November 2015 Foundation for Rural Service/Smart Rural Community program, “Beyond Rural Walls: Identifying Impacts and Interdependencies Among Rural and Urban Spaces.”
People who live in big metropolises, like New York City, London or Hong Kong, often say that they can always find someone within a few miles who has a special skill they need to complete some project or build a business. I’ve pointed out that the close proximity of millions of people with so many different skills is part of what has made cities successful economic engines during the industrial era.
When the population of your town is just a few thousand, there is a much smaller likelihood you’ll find the special skill you need nearby–and thus you’ll be less likely to achieve what you have in mind.
In the United States alone, the Census Bureau has noted in its report “Patterns of Metropolitan and Micropolitan Population Change” that 10% of Americans live in one of the 576 small urban areas (where there is at least one urban cluster of less than 50,000, but at least 10,000 people). That’s about 32 million people.