Joel Kotkin is the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., and executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism. The New York Times has described him as “America’s Uber-Geographer” for his work on global economic, political, and social trends. VEDP President and CEO Stephen Moret spoke with Kotkin about the forces affecting U.S. cities, suburbs, and rural areas.