Framing knowledge-based urban development and absorptive capacity of urban regions: a case-study of Limburg, the Netherlands

Abstract

Policy makers and developers increasingly stimulate economic prosperity by promoting the integration and concentration of research, technology, and human capital, inspired by research that places science central in the city. KBUD research stands out in that, besides measuring the campuses' characteristics, it also includes the effect of a number of external environments on the successful development of a city. However, so far, it has overlooked the importance of measuring absorptive quality of a city region. In this article, we propose an extension of the knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) model with an additional pillar that measures the level of absorptive quality of a region on the basis of local networking and cooperation activity. The extensive model shows that although the development program of the Limburg region scores good in the field of economic quality, the absorptive capacity of the region is less well developed. In particular, start-ups and SMEs in the service sector need extra attention in order to successfully boost innovativeness in the region.