22 Within cities, there is evidence from the US and Europe of diverse, multicultural cities being a spur to economic development and growth. 23 Richard Florida argues that what defines a thriving city these days is the three “t”s – talent, technology and tolerance – with the third a key enabler of the first two. 24 At the macro level, the evidence is more mixed but in general suggests a positive relationship between diversity and economic growth. The historical experience of creatively-fertile empires, cities or epochs – from ancient Greece to Medieval Florence, from Elizabethan London to postrevolutionary Paris – is suggestive. Each of these social systems was notable for its cosmopolitan culture, with a rich mix of religions, ideas and disciplines. Conversely, the cultural isolation of China for several centuries is held by some scholars to be responsible for its extended period of stifled innovation and growth. 25 More recent empirical evidence, looking across a range of countries, has added empirical support to this historical experience. Among advanced economies, measures of (genetic and birthplace) diversity have been found to support economic growth and development under the right conditions. 26 And the effects can be large: increasing the diversity of skilled immigrants by 1 percentage point raises long-run output by around 2%. 27 On this evidence, diversity of peoples has been an important ingredient behind organisations, cities and economies growing over time.

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