ABSTRACT
A new phenomenon is hitting the world of cities, towns and regions and it is potentially one of the most powerful and important movements of our turbulent times. Most city managers will have heard of it; some are taking active steps to accommodate it. Not everyone understands its significance, nor its nature, nor its implications, nor the actions that need to be taken to incorporate it into city and regional life. But the fact is that learning cities, learning towns, learning regions, learning communities are terms now in common use throughout the developed and the developing world, mostly because local and regional administrations have recognized that a more prosperous future depends on the development of the human and social capital in their midst. And the key to that development is encapsulated in three words – learning, learning and learning. That means to instil the habit of learning in as many as possible of their citizens and to empower them to assist in the building of their own communities as communities of learning.
