Exploring the Concept of Geographies of Innovation

In the last decades, so-called geographies of innovation have emerged worldwide as vehicles to drive economic development. These urban areas are planned and actively managed spatial clustering of a wide range of innovative organisations and intermediaries to undertake collaborative innovation activities. However, the concept of geography of innovation (or innovation geography) remains ambiguous. In addition, there are no commonly accepted definitions or classifications of different models of geographies of innovation. Terms such as park, hub, district, cluster, and ecosystem are used interchangeably, and their definitions can be far-reaching and adaptable. The key question addressed in this research is the main challenges of current policies for geographies of innovation in Europe, offering a view on how governments can better support the emergence and development of geographies of innovation in Europe.Hence, this report aims to explore the concept of geographies of innovation as an evolution of industrial and business clustering combining theoretical and practical approaches. The authors propose a definition and classification of the different models of geographies of innovation, highlighting some of the main challenges in implementing this identification and measurement. The comparative case study analysis containing thirteen case studies from four cities provide evidence supporting the development of European, national, or regional policies, enabling current and future geographies of innovation to enhance their performance and their contributions to greener, cleaner, socially more just, and overall to more developed cities and regions in Europe and beyond.