Richard L. Florida (born 1957) is an American urban studies theorist focusing on social and economic theory.

[4] Florida's early work focused on innovation by manufacturers, including the continuous-improvement systems implemented by such automakers as Toyota.

He suggests that attracting and retaining high-quality talent versus a singular focus on projects such as sports stadiums, iconic buildings, and shopping centers, would be a better primary use of a city's regeneration of resources for long-term prosperity.

[10] Harvard economist Edward Glaeser analyzed Florida's data and concluded that educational levels, rather than the presence of bohemians or gay people, is correlated with metropolitan economic development.

The main body of the book treats Florida's creative class theory in an introductory and neutral tone, but in a theoretical "postscript" chapter, the author criticizes what he describes as Florida's tendency to "whitewash" the negative externalities associated with creative city development.

[13] Thomas Frank criticizes Florida's "creative class" formulation as one of "several flattering ways of describing the professional cohort," this particular one being "the most obsequious designation of them all."

Frank places the creative class within a broader critique of the Democratic Party: "Let us be clear about the political views Florida was expounding here.