Richard Florida again, in Who’s Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life
Finding a place that makes us happy has a powerful effect on our “activation.” Such places encourage people to do more than they otherwise would, such as engage in more creative activities, invent new things, or start new companies — all things that are both personally fulfilling and economically productive.
This kind of activation, Tiagli found, stems in large part from the visual and cultural stimulation that places can provide — parks and open space, cultural offerings, things she calls “symbolic amenities.” This creates a regenerative cycle: the stimulation unleashes creative energy, which in turn attracts more high-energy people from other places, resulting in higher rates of innovation, greater economic prosperity, higher living standards, and more stimulation.