Population diversity leads to prosperity?

The United States is famous for its diversity and openness. People believe in the power of diversity, thinking that each individual's unique background and life experience add value to the whole society. Coming from a rather conservative and racially homogeneous country, I haven't experienced much diversity in my life, although it is not hard for me to imagine the difficulty of coordinating the cultural and ethical differences. Diversity in a community can be a double edged sword, it can either boost prosperity or cause chaos.

Jane Jacobs emphasized the importance of neighborhood diversity. But how about the population diversity? Cities such as New York, DC, Los Angelas, and San Francisco. These are cities with high living standards, and they are often associated with a more diversified population structure. They are also cities with high population mobility and changing demographics. The growth and development of these cities comes from their ability to embrace diversity and welcome newcomers. This fact undoubtedly challenged many people's stereotypes: Isn't it true that cities with more ethnic diversity and immigration often have higher crime rates thus leads to a general lower property value?

I believe it should not be a yes-or-no question. When you take the city or region as a whole to think about this problem. It is true that people experience rapid economic development, high living standards, and high property value in cities that are considered to be more diversified. Richard Florida once wrote in his article about How Pittsburgh's prosperity depends on diversity. He said:"The region was built by immigrants - the hard-working Italians, Irish, East Europeans, Jews, African Americans and other groups that powered this region's path to greatness as a center for heavy industry." The video below shows that America is facing a future defined by a diverse and multi-ethnic population. It is becoming a inevitable trend. 

It is true that diversity becomes a important theme today and can be a contributory factor to the uniqueness of a community. When comparing the prosperous cities high property value, we can easily find some commonalities among them: financial center, high population density, and high income level. People are usually driven towards areas with better living standards, which leads to a more diversified population construction. As a result, the dynamic between city and its population would be: a city with better living condition will attract more talents from different places, more rich people, and more resources to come, ultimately it will leads the city to be more prosperous and to attract more resources. Generally population diversity nowadays is linked to a higher property value. Neighborhoods with higher ethnic diversity, including Latinos, Asians, and African Americans, experienced higher housing appreciation over the decade. 

However, when we try to examine the inner environment within a city, high level of stratification comes in sight. It is easy to find segregation based on racial identity. Some districts are labeled by color and are considered as dangerous. Areas where the property value stays high are still dominantly white. There is a lack of common identity among people, thus generated many subcultures and segregation among different racial groups. These phenomenon imposed a negative effect on the community. The property value keeps low in a community with high crime rates because no one wants to move in. If a community failed to promote an understanding of, and appreciation for its cultural and racial diversity, the population diversity can become a damaging effect on the prosperity and property value. Unfortunately, this structural phenomena is still perpetuating racial segregation.  

The challenge is, how do we turn the population diversity into an advantage in community development. We want make people interact in a harmonious manner regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or other backgrounds. But at least we know that diversity is important in influencing the urban community in many ways, and openness says a lot about a community. Just like Richard Florida said:" The key to growth in the new economy is to be open and have low entry barriers for human capital."