Connective development : recognizing the networked city in forming a progressive urban economic development strategy

Abstract

The architecture of the economy is in rapid transformation. ' As the innovation economy is the most influential segment of the economy because it creates a ripple of value throughout the broader economy, successful efforts to accelerate innovation will have the greatest overall effect. However, these innovation actors are no longer located in just one geographical location, and the money and resources that support their endeavors are spread across multiple cities, and are continually moving between them. Increasingly today, connectivity occurs both regionally (in innovation hubs and their satellite cities) and meta-regionally (between cities not geographically proximate), and few formal policy frameworks exist to support these expanded geographic networks. Lead institutional and corporate anchors in urban markets are not effectively engaged in this dispersed economic system, further constraining growth. Current Economic Development policies have been unable to catalyze and sustain a period of real sustained growth as they are outdated, restrained by a narrow political lens, subject to regional competition, or locked in a federal policy with little financial strength to do anything impactful. Missing is a layer of meaningful connective infrastructure, to help connect players beyond 'regional clusters,' via complementary linkages and along relational networks. As these economic currents shape human behavior across geographic boundaries, our relationship to place becomes even more important- policy and programmatic instruments now need to support hyper-local place initiatives as well as hyper-linked economic actors to best grow the economy. Additionally, with the lack of granular measures of innovation output to reflect the dynamically linked system, there is inefficiency and redundancy of economic development efforts by cities. The proposed strategies for accelerated innovation will recognize the connections between these specific places, their mutual dependency and complementarity, as well as the specific urban environments in order to boosts growth and economic sustainability.