This book explores the parallels between the Renaissance during the 14th to 16th centuries and the upheavals in human and physical sciences in the 21st Century that herald an insurgent entrepreneurial renaissance.
The first Renaissance, conceived and developed in an urban environment, with the Medici family in Florence as pioneers, was a melting pot of art, culture, science and technology. It is in that context that entrepreneurship derived from artisan tradition and, hence, customized, was born to meet the demands and anticipate the needs of individual consumers. Starting with the mechanical technologies of the first industrial revolution, art, culture and science became separated from entrepreneurship. The latter took on Fordist features which depersonalized and, therefore, standardized the producer-consumer relationship. The emerging model of entrepreneurship returns to its origins in customization (e.g., 3D printing technologies, sharing/on-demand economy) strongly linked to the sequence "art-culture-science-technology."
The road to a new entrepreneurial renaissance is traveled by cities with creative communities. These communities actively participate in promoting international talent mobility, encouraging connections among the knowledge nomads who move around the world and the resources and talents rooted locally. Brought back to life under the conditions of the current age, entrepreneurship is once again woven into the fabric of art, culture, science and technology, and contributing to civic identity and pride. Featuring case studies from local experts that highlight innovative initiatives and developments in diverse cities around the world, this book aims to stimulate deep thought, theories and applications in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation. 

Piero Formicastarted his career as an economist at the OECD Economic Prospects Division in Paris, then moving to academic institutions. Professor Formica is Founder of the International Entrepreneurship Academy and was Professor of Economics with a special focus on innovation and entrepreneurship at the Jönköping International Business School in Sweden. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Innovational Value Institute where he leads an international research team on experimentation and simulation of high-expectation startups. He is Adjunct Professor of Knowledge Economics, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran (Iran), and a Guest Professor at the University of Tartu (Estonia) where he held the Marie Curie Professorship at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. 

Professor Formica is a Councilor of the World Certificate Institute, a global certifying body that grants credential awards to individuals as well as accredits courses of organizations, and member of the International Advisory Panel of Amrita Center for Responsible Innovations and Sustainable Enterprises (ARISE), Amrita University, India. the Entovation Knowledge Management Network, and IKED (the International Organisation for Knowledge Economy and Enterprise Development).

Professor Formica received several awards and honors that include a Guest Professor at King Saud University (Saudi Arabia) and at Curtin University of Technology, Curtin Business School (Perth, WA); a Special International Professor of Knowledge Economics and Entrepreneurship at Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (China); an International Professor of Knowledge Economics and Entrepreneurship at the Higher Colleges of Technology, United Arab Emirates; a Visiting Professor of Knowledge Economics and Entrepreneurship at the Jean Monnet Faculty of Political Studies (Second University of Naples, Italy); a member of the Advisory Council of the Institute for Enterprise and Innovation at the University of Nottingham, and a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Bologna, Italy, where he held the professorship of Economics of Innovation in the Masters of Business Law and Technology Management.

Professor Formica serves as board member ofIndustry& Higher Education; theInternational Journal of the Knowledge Economy; theInternational Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development; theJournal of Global Entrepreneurship Research; theSouth Asian Journal of Management; andFrontiers in Education.

Professor Formica has extensively published in the fields of knowledge economics, entrepreneurship and innovation. His most recent published works include: The Experimental Nature of New Venture Creation: Capitalizing on Open Innovation 2.0(Springer, 2013),co-edited with ProfessorMartin Curley (VP Intel Co.),Stories of Innovation for the Millennial Generation: The Lynceus Long View(Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), The Role of Creative Ignorance: Profile of Pathfinders and Path Creators(Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), and Grand Transformation towards an Entrepreneurial Economy: Exploring the Void(Emerald Group Publishing, 2015).

Editor's Note.- Foreword by Martin Curley.- Foreword by Alan Barrell.- Ch 1 Scope of Renaissance.- Ch 2 Harbouring the City of Sydney's Fluid Renaissance.- Ch 3 Bangalore: Development through Intercultural Interaction.- Ch 4 Tel Aviv: A Renaissance Revival in the Making.- Ch 5 From Self-Made Entrepreneurs to the Sharing Economy: Milan as a Laboratory for a New Collaborative-Based Approach.- Ch 6 Knowledge City Stockholm at Forefront.- Ch 7 Bournemouth: Urban Beach Not Urban Jungle.- Ch 8 Dublin's and Ireland's Entrepreneurial Revolution.- Ch 9 San Francisco Renaissance: Yet Another Gold Rush?.