America's Leading Metros for Venture Capital

Silicon Valley has long been the epicenter of venture capital-financed high-technology. Research has documented the tendency of venture capital and high-tech start-ups to cluster in suburban offices parks in Silicon Valley, the Route 128 suburbs outside Boston, and North Carolina's Research Triangle (aptly dubbed nerdistans!). 

But a number of recent studies suggest the geography of venture capital and start-ups may be shifting to "urban tech," from this long-held suburban orientation to cities and urban neighborhoods. Such a shift would be in line with more general urban theory which has long seen dense, diverse urban centers — not suburbs — as cradles of innovation.

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The World's Leading Science Cities

Science Cities - Producers vs. Consumers

Cities that produce knowledge are red; those that consume it are blue

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Within the U.S., there has been a shift in scientific production from the "major urban areas" of the East and West Coasts to a broader geographic distribution which includes centers in the Midwest and South

Despite America's overall decline, major cities and urban centers on the east and west coast remain the leading centers of physics over this period. The U.S. had 17 of the top 20 cities in 1990 and 14 in 2009

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While Chinese cities have risen as consumers of scientific knowledge (alongside their economic growth), it remains to be seen if they can become leading  producers of it.