Last week, Richard Florida published 6 Rules for Sustainable City Development and he underscored the importance of inclusive city planning. Florida didn’t define what he means by inclusion, but one can assume he is referring to the variety of voices that live, work and play in urban neighborhoods yet are often left out of the conversation by the affluent founders of services and products If you have been around this particular discussion for a while, your first thought might be, “well duh, including different perspectives should be everyone’s first thought!” But sadly, it isn’t.
The first time I really thought about this conversation was in relation to environmental sustainability. After stumbling on an episode of Shark Tank and seeing a team of entrepreneurs trying to market a $20 collapsible metal straw During this episode one of the shark’s raised the question, “Why would someone in a lower income bracket purchase this luxury good?”
It is a great question. When we think of the sustainable or ‘green’ innovations in the world of consumer goods, there are great companies doing great things! From recycled water bottles with new lives as shoes and coats to Tesla’s long range luxury electric vehicles, the world is making progress. These items however are often just as much as a status symbol as they are a matter of conscientiousness and environmental consideration.
While understandably the business of innovation requires high profit margins, I believe there are still ways to bring small changes to our often forgotten populations. Companies like Chicobag collect reusable totes and grocery bags from those of us Marie Kondo-ing our collections and provide them to lower income families while government organizations like GrowNYC (full disclosure I am a regular volunteer here) provide organic groceries to New Yorkers while supporting local farmers and providing fresh food access to those on government assistance.
Thus, I think it up to all of us no matter the industry we work in to consider the methods which we can bring more voices to the table. Personally, my 2019 intention is to bring awareness of taking the conversation out of just certain circles to the mainstream of a generation hungry for change.