Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts*

Abstract

Identifies and assesses three types of industrial districts that exist as alternatives to the new industrial district model, to remark on the limits of a locally targeted development strategy. Industrial districts are defined as sizable and spatially delimited areas of trade-oriented economic activity with a distinct specialization. Sticky places are industrial districts with the ability to both attract and keep capital and labor, despite globalizing tendencies. Especially in advanced capitalist countries, corporations are faced with the problem of maintaining income-generating activities rather than outsourcing labor to developing countries. This analysis rejects the new industrial district (NID) traditionally offered as a solution - that is, the proposed flexibly specialized scenario of small, innovative firms in a successful system of industrial governance. Metropolitan growth since 1970 was studied for four countries - the United States, Japan, Korea, and Brazil -and include one case in each country that conformed to the NID, as well as three to five others that did not. Utilizing interviews and examination of documents, three alternative models emerged -- the hub-and-spoke district, the satellite industrial platform, and the state-centered district. These models reject the NID emphasis on small firms, instead demonstrating the power of the state and/or multinational corporations. As opposed to the NID internal emphasis, the proposed models are exogenously driven and allow increased networking across districts. Districts emerge as a result of multiple forces, including industry structures, cororate strategies and public policies. The study of industrial districts needs to move away from the NID model, encompassing a greater variety of firms, and analyzing more closely their links to the larger industry and global economy from which they emerge. (CJC)