Complex regional innovation networks and HEI engagement - the case of Chicago

Abstract

This article considers how HEIs engage within local complex development networks in order to develop the urban metropolis, using the case of Chicago as a specific example. The data utilised in the study are based on document analysis and interviews with some 40 representatives of organisations within the Chicago metropolitan area, including regional HEIs. Qualitative content analysis was undertaken in order to determine core themes and discourses, and to build a logical chain of evidence to formulate our conclusions, which offer new thinking about the regional engagement role of HEIs within complex innovation systems. Our focus of analysis was the extent to which an adaptive and creative co-operation network of local triple helix actors had been created. Our study shows that creativity, the sharing of information, and acting and learning together are critical success factors in city development, and in particular in capitalising in the knowledge held by HEIs.