Knowledge-based Urban Development Research Articles

Balancing gentrification in the knowledge economy: the case of Chattanooga’s innovation district

ABSTRACTInnovation districts are emerging as place-based, knowledge-based urban development strategies in diverse cities around the world. They have, however, been criticized for being non-participative top-down initiatives that encourage gentrification and income, social, and racial polarization. In 2015, Mayor Berke launched Chattanooga’s Innovation District in the city’s downtown to accelerate the transformation of Chattanooga into a knowledge city. This paper investigates the programs that are being implemented in order to mitigate the negative externalities that such a strategy can generate. Using Chattanooga as an exploratory case, the authors argue that gentrification in innovation districts can increase knowledge spillovers.

Knowledge-based, smart and sustainable cities: a provocation for a conceptual framework

The smart and sustainable cities concept has become a globally hot topic during the last few decades, particularly following the catastrophic impacts of global climate change. The assessment of smart and sustainable cities, however, is a major challenge due to complex, complicated, and chaotic nature of our cities. This makes the available monitoring and evaluation tools difficult to adopt and apply in different urban contexts to support urban planning and governance and foster evidence-based policymaking. In order to address this issue, the paper brings together knowledge-based development concept with smart and sustainable cities. Knowledge-based development is a vision of development that considers knowledge as the central structuring element of a development strategy. Similarly, its more territory focused version, knowledge-based urban development is an integrated approach for the transition of cities and regions into sustainable, liveable and prosperous localities. The methodological approach of the paper includes the review of the literature on existing approaches on smart and sustainable cities assessment, describing their main aspects, strengths and limitations, and discuss the potential contribution of a knowledge-based urban development strategy for the successful promotion of smart and sustainable cities, presented in a proposed conceptual framework.

Context, contribution and characteristics of public spaces for place making in contemporary knowledge and innovation spaces. Observations from Brisbane, Australia

<p>The advanced era of knowledge-based urban development has led to an unprecedented increase in mobility of people and subsequent growth in new typologies of agglomerated enclaves of knowledge such as urban knowledge and innovation spaces. Within this context, a new role has been assigned to contemporary public spaces to attract and retain the mobile knowledge workforce by creating a sense of place. This paper investigates the context, characteristics and contribution of public spaces in facilitating place making in the globalised knowledge economy world. It takes an overall process-based approach to highlight the observations from Australia’s new world city Brisbane to outline the application of urban design as a tool to create and sustain multi-dimensional place making in urban knowledge and innovation spaces, which caters diverse range of social, cultural and democratic needs. The study derives multi-layered permeability as the key character that defines the modified typology of public spaces and which is vital for making them more viable and adaptive as per the changing needs of the contemporary globalised or in other words knowledge society.</p>

Place branding strategies in the context of new smart cities: Songdo IBD, Masdar and Skolkovo

The expanding networks of information and communication technology (ICT) enabling the connection of places, people and objects shape the reality of urban development nowadays. Although the spread of digitally led urban innovations remains uneven around the world, some places have started a progressive transition towards smart city format. Two dimensions are usually highlighted among the main features of smart urban development. The reliance on the intensive use of ICT to address the most challenging issues of urban planning is emphasised from a technological perspective. On the other hand, a more holistic scenario enhances citizens’ inventiveness, collective intelligence and knowledge-based urban development. The impact of ICT on urban development and representation is particularly remarkable when an entire new city is built following a smart city approach. Three relevant examples would be Songdo International Business District (Songdo IBD) City in South Korea, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi and Skolkovo City in Russian Federation, built to challenge the status quo of urban dynamics. Through a case study approach, this paper explores the most salient features of the place branding strategy of these new smart cities, focussed on creating an exclusive and technology-led business innovation ecosystem for highly skilled residents.

Societal integration that matters: Place making experience of Macquarie Park Innovation District, Sydney

Place making is recognised as a key strategy for supporting knowledge generation and innovation activities in the contemporary knowledge and innovation spaces. This study aims to probe into place making approaches in this context by focusing on the societal integration issue—a critical element in the place making practice. The paper places one of the fastest growing knowledge and innovation spaces from Australia—Macquarie Park Innovation District of Sydney, the largest knowledge and innovation cluster of the country—under the microscope. The methodological approach includes an interview-based qualitative analysis to capture the perceptions of a diverse range of key stakeholders. The study finds that: (a) Societal integration is a core objective of the place making strategy in knowledge and innovation spaces, and strengthens knowledge-based urban development endeavours, and; (b) Transparency in politico-economic processes, connectivity in physical and socio-cultural realms, and coordination between distinct and diverse needs of stakeholders are critical for place making through societal integration.

Interactions of Actors’ Interests and Power in The Governance System: The Case of Co-location of University Campuses in Trondheim, Norway

This paper aims to understand the power and governance questions in the case of co-location of university (NTNU) campuses in the city of Trondheim. NTNU has three main campuses; 1. Gløshaugen, the technical campus, 2. Dragvoll, the social and human science campus, and 3. Øya, the hospital and medical campus. Since NTNU was built, the co-location of its campuses was on the agenda in order to increase the interdisciplinary and collaboration between them. In 2000s, the desire of co-locating the campuses was reinforced by the new trend of knowledge-based urban development in Trondheim. A large part of the higher education and research institutions, including Gløshaugen and Øya campuses, has been located in the area close to Trondheim city center. The vicinity of these institutions embarks on a strategic mission to firmly encourage and nurture locally focused innovation, science and creativity within the context of expanding knowledge economy. Subsequently, the municipality’s wish is to physically and institutionally combine the functions of a science park with civic and residential functions by opening up campus areas for the outside world, integrating university activities with the rest of the city. Regarding the co-location of campuses, a political mainstream is to move (re-locate) both administration and education affairs of NTNU’s Dragvoll campus to the Gløshaugen- Øya area (distance of 5 km). This process of moving is an intricate evolution that brings different social, economic and ecological issues into question that has provided an implicit testimony to the broad range of political interests and power issues. The latent conflict between different interests and power levels have permeated multi-stakeholder discussions at the national and local level and undermined the process of decision-making for nearly 15 years. The process of decision-making has continuously been influenced by the power of actors in terms of their position, personality and opportunity they grasp for actions. The findings of this research attract attentions to the importance of networking with individuals, who have the necessary power and interest, in order to understand the governance structure and the mechanism for its change in the specific period of time.

Place Making for Knowledge Generation and Innovation: Planning and Branding Brisbane's Knowledge Community Precincts

Knowledge generation and innovation have been a priority for global city administrators particularly during the last couple of decades. This is mainly due to the growing consensus in identifying knowledge-based urban development as a panacea for burgeoning economic problems. Place making has become a critical element for success in knowledge-based urban development as planning and branding places is claimed to be an effective marketing tool for attracting investment and talent. This paper aims to investigate the role of planning and branding in place making by assessing the effectiveness of planning and branding strategies in the development of knowledge and innovation milieus. The methodology of the study comprises reviewing the literature thoroughly, developing an analysis framework, and using this framework to analyze Brisbane's knowledge community precincts—namely Boggo Road Knowledge Precinct, Kelvin Grove Urban Knowledge Village, and Sippy Downs Knowledge Town. The analysis findings generate invaluable insights into Brisbane's journey in place making for knowledge and innovation milieus and communities. The results suggest as much as good planning, branding strategies, and good practice, the requirements of external and internal conditions also need to be met for successful place making in knowledge community precincts.

An Approach for Promoting Urban and Architectural Potentials for Supporting Knowledge Economy, Case Study:Brisbane

With the emergence of various environmental, economic, and social problems in the beginning of the 21st century, many countries and international organizations turned to adopting the concept of Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD). To achieve the concept of KBUD and turn a city into a Knowledge city (KCs), the urban and architectural potentials are upgraded for enhancing knowledge economy forming. This paper addresses the theoretical side of the KBUD concept, in an attempt to establish a clear vision of the KBUD concept and of KCs’ urban and architectural potentials. Also mechanisms for upgrading Brisbane potentials are analyzed.

Knowledge-based urban development potential of Turkish provinces

Knowledge economy (KE) has started to effect cities towards becoming knowledge cities (KC) to increase competitiveness in KE. Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) strategies that draw the path to become KCs have already been adopted by several cities around the world. Turkey as one of the developing countries that has developed strategies for increasing competitiveness in KE, is missing a comprehensive planning approach towards becoming building a KC. The purpose of this paper is to determine which province(s) are strategically more appropriate to adopt KBUD strategies in Turkey. The study will, first, evaluate existing assessment models and, second, will introduce the model used specifically for Turkish provinces. After presenting the results of KBUD potential index of Turkish provinces, the study aims to end with a note on which provinces have higher potential to adopt KBUD strategies for a balanced and sustainable economic development.

Knowledge-based urban development of cross-border twin cities

Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has recently emerged as a central topic of discussion among scholars and practitioners interested in urban development tools and policies. However, what has rarely been discussed before is whether KBUD can be achieved in a cross-border context. This paper sets out to propose an analytical framework for empirical studies on the shared KBUD processes of cross-border twin cities, based on indicators adapted from the literature on cross-border regional innovation systems. The proposed framework was tested with two cases: Helsinki-Tallinn and Copenhagen-Malmo. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the framework, guide potential further studies on KBUD and twin cities and raise relevant suggestions for urban policy-makers in border regions.

Knowledge-based urban development of cross-border twin cities

Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has recently emerged as a central topic of discussion among scholars and practitioners interested in urban development tools and policies. However, what has rarely been discussed before is whether KBUD can be achieved in a cross-border context. This paper sets out to propose an analytical framework for empirical studies on the shared KBUD processes of cross-border twin cities, based on indicators adapted from the literature on cross-border regional innovation systems. The proposed framework was tested with two cases: Helsinki-Tallinn and Copenhagen-Malmö. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the framework, guide potential further studies on KBUD and twin cities and raise relevant suggestions for urban policy-makers in border regions.

The Smart State test: a critical review of the Smart State Strategy 2005-2015's Knowledge-Based Urban Development

The State of Queensland has matured through its puberty as a resources-driven regional economy into a diversifying public and professional services economy. The former Beattie Government's Smart Queensland: Smart State Strategy 2005-2015 vision represented the beginning of a transgenerational approach to planning for economic development that was unprecedented in Queensland. At its expiration it is now appropriate to review the effectiveness of the strategy and whether it achieved its vision and to what extent the strategy catalysed Knowledge-Based Urban Development in Brisbane its spinoff policies aspired to, and contemporary economic development theory suggested. This paper examines the effectiveness of the Smart State Strategy; identifies and analyses the shortcomings and barriers for Knowledge-Based Urban Development in Brisbane; ascertains the limitations of public policy development for urban planning; and summarises a number of lessons learned that may inform improved frameworks for intelligent urban planning for globalised economic development.

Future of Smart Cities in the Knowledge-based Urban Development and the Role of Award Competitions

This study investigates the role of King Abdullah II award for excellence in government performance and transparency in the making of a successful smart city. In order to achieve a better view to support smart city initiatives process and validate the research, the study conducted several interviews with all mangers of Amman municipality directorate to collect the primary data of this study. Further, a qualitative research was performed. Having reviewed the existing literature, Researcher determined the role of knowledge based urban development as a new paradigm in managing urban planning and development in order to ensure Amman city is competitive in the global market. The results concluded that greater Amman municipality applied sufficient knowledge, technology, infrastructure, skills and leadership to winning at King Abdullah II award for excellence. In the light of the literature and case findings, the paper provides recommendations for the Amman municipality and to Arab regions that are working hard to develop smart cities and seeking a global recognition.

Universities’ contributions to social innovation: reflections in theory & practice

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to resolve a tension in understanding how universities contribute to knowledge-based urban development (KBUD). Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a conceptual paper, which analyses the tension as emerging between the university and the wider societal activity. The paper creates a framework for combining insights from both those theoretical frameworks to better understand why universities might choose to contribute to KBUD. Findings – The paper argues that it is important to understand the benefits that the universities get from participating in the KBUD. This can be through the unique tacit knowledge that emerges in the social innovation process, but their might also be value for the university in terms of two other variables, material resources and symbolic legitimacy. Research limitations/implications – The paper is a literature review and therefore is limited to raising a series of future questions and directions for research in the field, as well as to providing a lens and context for existing work. Practical implications – There are clear implications for those seeking to improve universities contributions to KBUD. It is not merely enough for strategic leaders to come together and agree that promoting the university will promote KBUD: it is necessary to modify a range of processes within the university to ensure that a wide range of actors are able to benefit from participating in KBUD activities, and that it facilitates their own teaching and research activities. Social implications – For universities to make a substantive contribution to promoting KBUD, policy-makers must ensure that they do not create disincentives through universities’ teaching and research activities. Originality/value – This is the first time that a paper has sought to bridge between theories of urban development and social innovation, and universities’ internal institutional and organisational dynamics.

Public space design of knowledge and innovation spaces: learnings from Kelvin Grove Urban Village, Brisbane

The era of knowledge-based urban development has led to an unprecedented increase in mobility of people and the subsequent growth in new typologies of agglomerated enclaves of knowledge such as knowledge and innovation spaces. Within this context, a new role has been assigned to contemporary public spaces to attract and retain the mobile knowledge workforce by creating a sense of place. This paper investigates place making in the globalized knowledge economy, which develops a sense of permanence spatio-temporally to knowledge workers displaying a set of particular characteristics and simultaneously is process-dependent getting developed by the internal and external flows and contributing substantially in the development of the broader context it stands in relation with. The paper reviews the literature and highlights observations from Kelvin Grove Urban Village, located in Australia’s new world city Brisbane, to understand the application of urban design as a vehicle to create and sustain place making in knowledge and innovation spaces. This research seeks to analyze the modified permeable typology of public spaces that makes knowledge and innovation spaces more viable and adaptive as per the changing needs of the contemporary globalized knowledge society.

Does Size Matter? Knowledge-Based Development of Second-Order City-Regions in Finland

Achieving knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) depends profoundly on not only encouraging the development of economic activities, but also strengthening the societal, environmental and governance bases of city-regions. In recent years, a number of global city-regions have been investigated from the angle of this multidimensional perspective, which has provided a new comprehension of the development processes of primate city-regions. However, there is a knowledge gap in understanding how KBUD works in the second-order city-region (SOCR) context. This warrants more attention as SOCRs potentially help secure balanced development and territorial cohesion. This paper aims to empirically investigate KBUD performances of SOCRs in order to generate new insights. An assessment framework is utilised in the Finnish context, where the findings provide a nationally bench-marked snapshot of the degree of achievements of SOCRs based on numerous KBUD performance areas. The results shed light on the unique Finnish urban and regional development process, and provide lessons for other SOCRs.

Multimedia Super Corridor, Malaysia

Purpose– This paper aims to investigate and provide insights on knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) in the context of emerging economies. KBUD has been an effective strategy and an opportunity for emerging economies for catching up with the developed economies.Design/methodology/approach– The paper scrutinizes the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) of Malaysia by focusing on the planning, development and orchestration of the knowledge corridor.Findings– The paper reveals a number of lessons and insights drawn from the development of MSC as the largest manifestation of the KBUD initiative in Malaysia.Originality/value– The paper provides lessons and recommendations on the planning, development and management of KBUD for emerging economies that are seeking a prosperous development.

Dubaization of Istanbul: Insights from the Knowledge-Based Urban Development Journey of an Emerging Local Economy

Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has become a popular pursuit for cities, especially from the developing countries, to fast track the catching up process with their counterparts in developed nations. Nevertheless, for these cities the KBUD progress is daunting and full of challenges. The authors aim to shed light on the major KBUD challenges of emerging local economies by undertaking an in-depth empirical investigation in one such city. They scrutinize the prospects and constraints of Istanbul in her KBUD journey through comparative performance and policy context analyses. The findings reveal invaluable insights, not only for Istanbul to reshape the policy context and align development with contemporary KBUD better, but also for other emerging local economies to learn from these experiences.

Assessment of knowledge-based urban development in the cross-border twin-city: a Tallinn-Helsinki case study

The aim of this paper is to explore the evolution of strategic spatial planning in Estonian-Finnish context for emerging Tallinn-Helsinki twin-city region in its pursuit for knowledge-based development and cross-border added-value. The paper examines the benefits and limitations, challenges and outcomes of the shared trans-national spatial development policies driven by market forces, both formal and informal relations, seeking complementarities of multi-level territorial governance and eroding socioeconomic disparities. The paper calls for the further coordinated bilateral strategic planning and strengthening territorial policies in the context of a twin-city region and horizontal tiers through the knowledge-based development. The paper evidences the asymmetric tiers and domains of the Tallinn-Helsinki twin-city region and stresses the importance of shared and interconnected strategic planning for knowledge-based urban development.

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

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.