Innovation districts : economic development, community benefits, and the public realm

Abstract

Innovation Districts are emerging across the country as vehicles for economic development, job creation, urban revitalization, and sustainable growth. As they continue to be developed, there is a need to rethink the role of community benefits in supporting economic resiliency within the innovation ecosystem. Public innovation centers have the opportunity to bolster this environment by providing needed community space, fostering exchange within the public realm, and helping to sustain a mix of budding startups and established firms. Innovation space such as incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces, and makerspaces are not foreign to the commercial real estate market. However, when these relatively new product types collide with the idea of public space and community benefits, there is potential to create something unique. In the spirit of a community center, innovation centers offer the broader public access to the rapidly growing innovation ecosystem and startup culture, all while helping to generate new ideas, products, and-potentially-jobs.