Reasons for Optimism

Lovely idea, this website. If you're feeling a bit pessimistic, check out all the great things going on around the world and it will perk you right up.

For example, I loved reading about this project, ioby, bringing environmental projects to life, block by block in New York....

Or this one, about mapping-innovative-cities over at Sustainable Cities Collective, where they specified the following:

Key factors in urban innovation
A good mayor
Mayors in Barcelona, Munich, Turin and Bogotá have radically influenced their respective cities’ futures through tenacious and intelligent intervention. Measures have included the reduction of red tape, zoning and construction restrictions, and the careful balancing of social, business and cultural agendas.
Ethnic mix
Cities with a lively, tolerant, changing and cosmopolitan population tend to attract the best people. But big cities need to be wary of ghettoising new arrivals to the peripheries, a problem that has blighted Paris.
Education
Although Richard Florida plays down the link between education and start-ups, every successful city, from Bangalore to the San Francisco area, has a good university at its core or nearby.
Intensity
Urban innovation is not just about the numbers of tech companies; the trick is to get them communicating with each other. This means bars, coffee shops, shared offices and communal public spaces. Innovation often comes through serendipitous meetings, so tech clusters need places for unexpected encounters. Cool bars attract bright young people, and the proximity of the creative industries helps both groups to spot new opportunities and emerging trends.

Seriously, I could go on.......