Technology campuses and cities: A study on the relation between innovation and the built environment at the urban area level

Abstract

This thesis examines the development of technology campuses and their role in stimulating innovation. The main result of this thesis is a model for understanding and managing the relationship between the built environment and innovation at the urban area level. This model developed mainly throughout an inductive approach in two core studies. The first is an exploratory research that uncovers and positions the link between innovation and the built environment by using inputs from theory (literature review) and empirical evidence (survey of 39 technology campuses). The second is an explanatory research that clarifies the relationship between innovation and the built environment based on empirical evidence in the practice of campus development (theory building from case studies). In this model, the built environment is a catalyst for innovation in technology campuses demonstrated by location decisions and interventions facilitating five interdependent conditions required for innovation in particular contexts. The empirical evidence supporting the model is structured and converted into information available to decision makers involved in the development of technology campuses. The so-called ‘campus decision maker Toolbox’ provides instruments that guide planners, designers and managers of campuses and cities during different stages of campus development. In theory, findings strengthen existing theoretical concepts connecting the fields of corporate real estate management, urban studies in the knowledge-based economy and economic geography. In practice, this understanding encourages the efficient and effective use of the many resources required to develop technology campuses.