A Look at the "Beauty Premium"

As distasteful as it may seem, there is an economic concept of the "beauty premium" where the better looking a person is, the better their economic prospects may be. The concept has been written about in The Atlantic, The Economist, and the New York Times recently, but CityLab has extended the concept to cities and towns. In an article entitled, "The BeautyPremium: How Urban Beauty Affects Cities’ Economic Growth," Richard Florida notes a study by Gerald A. Carlino (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia) and Albert Saiz (MIT) that looks at the connection between the beauty of a city or town and key indicators of growth.

One important point made is how beauty and aesthetics are not a passively arrived at state a luck of the draw, they note:

"Beautiful places do not just occur naturally: They are the product of public policy and investment. Of course, some places are endowed with more natural beauty, in the form of stunning coastlines or scenic mountain ranges. But cities can and do make themselves more beautiful—and thus more attractive to educated and affluent people—by investing in parks and protecting landmarks and historic spaces."

Thus, we make our own successes with conscious and well-considered public policy to not only protect those assets that make us what we are, but also for ensuring that any growth or development meets a highly exacting standard.

You can read the article here: https://www.citylab.com/life/2019/05/beautiful-cities-economic-growth-data-beauty-premium/589480/