Spaces of innovation : 21st century technopoles

Abstract

Public authorities and private developers around the world are attempting to create and sustain hubs within the innovation-based economy by fostering successful urban environments. These large-scale developments succeed an earlier generation of post-industrial "technopoles" named after the French word popularized by Castells and Hall in Technopoles of the World (1994). In the 1990s, most planned technopoles resembled suburban office environments with generous landscaping, wide roads, and automobile-focused circulation systems. In contrast, today's economic development experts are increasingly emphasizing the need for interaction and cross-fertilization among companies and institutions in an attempt to foster innovation, from which successful communities are assumed to derive their competitive edge in an information- based economy. Parallel shifts in live-work patterns among creative talent groups are being documented in social science and anecdotal observations. These trends have heightened competition for qualified individuals and initiated a talent war among cities globally. And these individuals are living footloose lifestyles supported by mobile devices and wireless connectivity. Entrepreneurial public agencies and private developers have recognized the potential for reconceiving live-work environments as economic hubs. These holistic projects are identified as 21st century technopoles because they directly address and capitalize on the socio-economic shifts described above leading to vastly different ideal urban configurations. The thesis asks how urban form is expected to contribute to innovation; and, how urban form is being reconceptualized in turn at the neighborhood scale.

(cont.) Four case studies provide a rich narrative that begins to sketch the range of proposed urban developments: Cyberjaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Digital Media City, Seoul, Korea; one-north, Singapore; Lower Manhattan, New York. A narrative ties the four cases together providing "thick descriptions" as a base-line study for a new mode of technopole development. The analysis reaches from (1) "hardware" or the urban built environment and (2) "wiring" or the embedded and supported technologies to (3) "software" or the actors involved. The case studies indicate several emergent themes that are rescripting our urban environments. Dense urban zones with a high level of sensory diversity are being proposed for emerging technopoles that capitalize on the city as a metaphor for human interaction and exchange. Real estate value in this system is measured by the number of serendipitous encounters it facilitates. The dichotomous relationship between spaces of places and spaces of flows set forth by Castells seems inapplicable within the boundaries of these zones that are at once core and periphery, local and global. Finally, these developments are living laboratories for the technologies that support new live-work preferences and shifting lifestyles. Several contradictions become apparent in delving more deeply into the examples, which are still under development. In the promotional materials, diversity - demographic and physical - is embraced, but it is not clear how it will contribute to innovation. More generally, the projects plan for often unpredictable "knowledge accidents." ...