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Introducing Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World

Blog Post | Urbanization

Introducing Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World

“Cities, the dense agglomerations that dot the globe, have been engines of innovation since Plato and Socrates bickered in an Athenian marketplace,” as urban economist Edward Glaeser explains in his book The Triumph of the City.

Athens’s storied breakthroughs in philosophy are but one example of how cities have often been the sites of pivotal advances throughout history. Kyoto gave us the novel. Bologna gave us the university. Florence gave us the Renaissance. Paris gave us the Enlightenment. Manchester gave us the Industrial Revolution. Los Angeles gave us cinema. Postwar New York gave us modern finance . . . the list goes on. As Glaeser also notes, “Wandering these cities—whether down cobblestone sidewalks or grid-cutting cross streets, around roundabouts or under freeways—is to study nothing less than human progress.”

If you’re not able to travel to each of these extraordinary cities, perhaps the next best thing is to embark on a virtual tour from the comfort of your home. To that end, I wrote a book surveying 40 of history’s greatest urban centers, showcasing each city at a moment in time when it notably contributed to progress.

Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World offers a fact-filled yet accessible crash course in global urban history, spanning from the agricultural revolution to the digital revolution. This book affirms the importance of cities to the story of human progress and innovation by shining a spotlight on some of the places that have helped create the modern world.

The book’s chapters can guide you through the Library of Alexandria, the stock exchange of Dutch Golden Age-era Amsterdam, and the pubs of Edinburgh during the Scottish Enlightenment, all in an afternoon.

Centers of Progress “takes the reader on a time-travel cruise through the great flash points of human activity to catch innovations that have transformed human lives” at their moment of invention, according to writer Matt Ridley in the insightful foreword that he kindly provided. Come explore Agra as the Taj Mahal was erected and Cambridge as Isaac Newton penned the Principia. Meet engineers in Ancient Rome, Silk Road merchants in Tang Dynasty Chang’an, music composers in 19th-century Vienna, and Space Age flight controllers in Houston.

Learning about past achievements may even hold the secret to fostering innovation in the present.

As I note in the book, “Although there are some exceptions, most cities reach their creative peak during periods of peace. Most centers of progress also thrive during times of relative social, intellectual, and economic freedom, as well as openness to intercultural exchange and trade. And centers of progress tend to be highly populated. . . . Identifying those common denominators among the places that have produced history’s greatest achievements is one way to learn what causes progress in the first place. After all, change is a constant, but progress is not.”

From the fall of the Berlin Wall to Hong Kong’s transformation from a war-ravaged “barren island” into a prosperous metropolis, many of the stories featured in Centers of Progress hold valuable lessons about the importance of ideas, people, and freedom. I hope that you will consider joining me on a journey through the book’s pages to some of history’s greatest centers of progress.

CIDRAP | Noncommunicable Disease

FDA Approves At-Home Test for Sexually Transmitted Infections

“The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today (3/28/25) approved the first at-home, over-the-counter test for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and trichomoniasis.

The Visby Medical Women’s Sexual Health Test is a single-use test intended for women with or without symptoms. The FDA granted marketing authorization to Visby Medical based on testing that showed the device correctly identified 98.8% of negative and 97.2% of positive Chlamydia trachomatis samples, 99.1% of negative and 100% of positive Neisseria gonorrhoeae samples, and 98.5% of negative and 97.8% of positive Trichomonas vaginalis samples.

The test, which includes a sample collection kit and a powered testing device that communicates testing results to an app, can be bought without a prescription and deliver results within 30 minutes.”

From CIDRAP.

Healio | Noncommunicable Disease

FDA Approves First New Antibiotic for Uncomplicated UTIs in Decades

“The FDA approved gepotidacin for the treatment of uncomplicated UTIs in women and adolescent girls aged 12 years or older, GSK announced.

It is the first new antibiotic for the treatment of uncomplicated UTIs (uUTIs) in nearly 30 years, according to GSK. 

The decision to approve gepotidacin, which will be marketed as Blujepa, was supported by positive phase 3 data from the EAGLE-2 and EAGLE-3 trials, which demonstrated the antibiotic’s noninferiority to standard-of-care treatment nitrofurantoin.

Data from the EAGLE-2 trial showed treatment success in 50.6% of participants vs. 47% in patients treated with nitrofurantoin, with an adjusted difference in success of 4.3 percentage points.”

From Healio.

Financial Post | Energy Production

World Bank May Drop Ban on Funding Nuclear Power

“The head of the World Bank said he asked the lender’s board to reverse its long-standing policy against funding nuclear power projects, saying the technology offers a green option for poor countries.

‘The good news is the board has come together and said they’re willing to discuss’ the change, World Bank President Ajay Banga said Thursday at an event in Washington, adding that he expects the move to be included in a broader energy policy proposal expected in June 2026.”

From Financial Post.

Bloomberg | Communications

Vietnam Allows Elon Musk’s Starlink to Provide Pilot Service

“Vietnam will allow Elon Musk’s Starlink to provide satellite internet services in the country for a pilot period of five years, with a maximum of 600,000 subscribers, after the government pushed through regulatory changes.

The decision paves the way for SpaceX to invest on a trial basis in telecommunications services using low-orbit satellite technology until Jan. 1 2031, according to a government statement.

There will be no restrictions on foreign ownership and the business will be ‘based on principles that ensure national defense and security,’ the statement said.

It will also allow for internet access at sea and on airplanes, which opens up potential for inflight WiFi on Vietnamese airlines.”

From Bloomberg.