Land use and transportation planning are the responsibility of local government, but economic changes at the regional, national and even global levels are forcing us to adapt to forces outside of our control \u2013 including automation, international trade, and even competition for natural resources as basic as the sand used to mix the concrete in large apartment and office buildings.<\/p>\n
Among the biggest changes is what some economists have called the trend toward a \u201cwinner-take-all-economy<\/a>.\u201d This is the idea that wealth, talent and innovation are increasingly being concentrated in a small number of places, typically large metro areas anchored by cities capable of attracting people and capital from around the world. Nationally we can see this trend in the GDP of the top 25 metro areas. In 2017, these metro areas accounted for more than half of the US\u2019s $20.2 trillion GDP.<\/p>\n