ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the significance of innovation for economic development, the role of diversity and dialogue in innovation, and the urban implications of these concepts. Rather than elite and specialist enclaves, it is argued, innovation and creativity are better served by an inclusive notion of diversity, which is partly made possible through a strong public realm. Diversity is a necessary ingredient in creativity and innovation. However, a limited understanding of diversity results in superficial outcomes, placing emphasis on appearances, reflecting an imaginary cultural diversity that sanitizes and fictionalizes existing diversities. For some, this intersection of cultural diversity and innovation may result in a sense of insecurity and loss of identity. Social difference, however, should be understood in a wide sense, which would go beyond a limited range of participants and explore new possibilities through inclusive and open forms of interaction. The spatial and institutional form that this open type of interaction may take is the development of the public realm.
