W. Bijker About Scot
Technology Districts level, scope, and scale of innovation activities in different technology districts are conditioned by the level and form of regional and national economic development (Castells and Hall 1994).
Moreover, not all efforts to build technology districts are successful, and some established districts have experienced difficulties, stagnation, and decline.
Some studies (e.g., Saxenian 1994) attribute this to the rigidities in path-dependent local corporate structure and business culture that hinder the development of innovation networks. Other factors that may stifle local synergy include poor planning, weak entrepreneurialism in face of tight bureaucratic control, predominance of divergent agendas and interests (e.g., property development), and intradistrict negative externalities (e.g., infrastructural overloading and environmental deterioration).
4. Consequences
The full socioeconomic ramifications of technology districts remain to be explored. What are their effects on interregional disparities? How do they stimulate economic growth and institutional change beyond the region? How and to what extent do they foster elitism and increase cleavages in society? These are some of the important issues that have been raised but need to be examined more closely.
Furthermore, technology districts are evolving with the forces that they help unleash. In particular, their spatial organization faces growing impact from the explosive expansion of the Internet and rapid development of information technology, which could significantly reduce the constraints posed by distance and locality-specific institutions on social interaction.
How this redefines the role of location in fostering innovation will be a major focus of attention among both practitioners and observers.
See also: Community Economic Development; Local
Economic Development; Regional Geography; Technological Innovation; Technology-supported Learning Environments
Bibliography
Moreover, not all efforts to build technology districts are successful, and some established districts have experienced difficulties, stagnation, and decline.
Some studies (e.g., Saxenian 1994) attribute this to the rigidities in path-dependent local corporate structure and business culture that hinder the development of innovation networks. Other factors that may stifle local synergy include poor planning, weak entrepreneurialism in face of tight bureaucratic control, predominance of divergent agendas and interests (e.g., property development), and intradistrict negative externalities (e.g., infrastructural overloading and environmental deterioration).
4. Consequences
The full socioeconomic ramifications of technology districts remain to be explored. What are their effects on interregional disparities? How do they stimulate economic growth and institutional change beyond the region? How and to what extent do they foster elitism and increase cleavages in society? These are some of the important issues that have been raised but need to be examined more closely.
Furthermore, technology districts are evolving with the forces that they help unleash. In particular, their spatial organization faces growing impact from the explosive expansion of the Internet and rapid development of information technology, which could significantly reduce the constraints posed by distance and locality-specific institutions on social interaction.
How this redefines the role of location in fostering innovation will be a major focus of attention among both practitioners and observers.
See also: Community Economic Development; Local
Economic Development; Regional Geography; Technological Innovation; Technology-supported Learning Environments
Bibliography
Bibliography: Basic Books, New York Douglas S J 1987 In enting American Broadcasting, 1899–1922. Hughes T P 1983 Networks of Power. Electrification in Western Society, 1880–1930