Spaces for smart specialisation: spaces and places where smart specialisation takes shape
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URBACT IN FOCUS partners will meet next November 22 – 24 in Bordeaux for exploring how cities, in coordination with other stakeholders, can create and manage urban environments that foster innovation activities and smart specialisation.
The idea of smart specialisation can be used as a main driver to review and boost the urban agenda on business-led local economic development. In the IN FOCUS project, we put the emphasis on four areas that constitute the basic skeleton of today´s business-led local economic development: 1) Cluster-based local economic development, 2) Entrepreneurship local ecosystems, 3) New urban workspace (and business-related facilities), and 4) Attraction of investment and knowledge.
For this meeting, we will zoom in on the 3rd topic: the development and management of (new) urban workspaces for smart specialisation. In other words: the physical spaces and places where smart specialisation takes shape.
Science parks, technology parks, technopoles, innovation quarters, knowledge hotspots and similar concepts are identified as key horizontal component of the RIS3. But planning and programming/managing them well is not easy. Although cities have a big influence on this through their planning competences, developing and running such areas must be done in co-production with other stakeholders, including knowledge institutions, companies, real estate players, and often other layers of government.
In this meeting, we will explore how cities, in coordination with other stakeholders, can create and manage urban environments that foster innovation activities and smart specialisation. As the meeting takes place in Bordeaux, heavy emphasis will be put on Bordeaux locations and hotspots. Over the last years, the city has developed an interesting portfolio of places and spaces, with distinct characteristics. But we will learn about other cities approaches as well. The aim is to exchange experiences, and learn from each other how cities can develop and manage such spaces in a complex institutional environment. Some issues that we will address in this meeting:
- How to plan, develop and manage these areas in co-design with stakeholders?
- How to deal with competition vs complementarity of spaces and places in city and region
- How important are specific spaces & places for innovation processes in companies and knowledge institutes
- How to deal with specialisation in new innovation spaces. This question is at the core of S3 and many managers from science parks and business parks are facing the specialisation/diversification issue as a dilemma.
- What new concepts are emerging, how successful are they (and how do we find out …)