TY - JOUR
T1 - Mission-oriented innovation districts
T2 - towards challenge-led, place-based urban innovation
AU - Fastenrath, Sebastian
AU - Tavassoli, Sam
AU - Sharp, Darren
AU - Raven, Rob
AU - Coenen, Lars
AU - Wilson, Bruce
AU - Schraven, Daan
N1 - Funding Information:
In order to address this, we argue that one helpful approach is to go back to principles of good governance. There is common ground as to what constitutes ‘good governance’ as indicated in three of the most known and used sets of principles. The United Nations Development Program Governance Principles (UNDP, 1997) can claim strong universal support. The European Commission's approach equally appears uncontested (for a more detailed analysis of the EU's approach to Good Governance, see Börzel et al., 2008). The UK's Nolan Principles of Public Life, like the EC's attempt, were designed to address the growing dissatisfaction of the public with public sector performance. In the context of MOID, we argue that the principles of good governance apply, but that the core challenge is in developing the capacity and capability of the governing body to be effective in intermediating. To align a quite diverse group of actors along the central point of a ‘mission’ requires a culture of collaboration and cooperation. Hence it requires careful design and nurturing, which also takes considerable time.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/9/15
Y1 - 2023/9/15
N2 - In recent years, there has been rapidly growing interest in Innovation Districts (ID) in urban policy and practice. IDs are touted as catalysts for innovation and economic development involving a wide range of stakeholders often in under-performing neighbourhoods or precincts. Despite the appeal, critique is forming around their linear understanding of innovation, the narrow focus of economic goals and lack of directionality in addressing grand societal challenges. This paper proposes the concept of Mission-Oriented Innovation Districts (MOID). MOID are thought to help design, shape and drive transformative change from a place-based perspective. Methodologically, this paper conceptually reviews antecedents of and draws on a structured search and scoping review of the two popular but disjointed literatures on ID and Mission-Oriented Innovation (MOI). Drawing on an analysis of 99 journal articles, this paper seeks to provide a better understanding about differences and common grounds of the two strands of literature. Five analytical categories are developed and applied to assess and interpret insights from existing publications: (1) understandings, definitions, and objectives; (2) theoretical-conceptual underpinnings; (3) analytical and methodological approaches; (4) evaluation; and (5) governance. We find that there is ample opportunity for cross-fertilization of insights across these two literatures. Based on this in-depth analysis, the contours of a new concept of MOID are outlined through a formal definition of MOID and insights from the analysis are translated into future research questions to inform a transformative agenda for innovation policy.
AB - In recent years, there has been rapidly growing interest in Innovation Districts (ID) in urban policy and practice. IDs are touted as catalysts for innovation and economic development involving a wide range of stakeholders often in under-performing neighbourhoods or precincts. Despite the appeal, critique is forming around their linear understanding of innovation, the narrow focus of economic goals and lack of directionality in addressing grand societal challenges. This paper proposes the concept of Mission-Oriented Innovation Districts (MOID). MOID are thought to help design, shape and drive transformative change from a place-based perspective. Methodologically, this paper conceptually reviews antecedents of and draws on a structured search and scoping review of the two popular but disjointed literatures on ID and Mission-Oriented Innovation (MOI). Drawing on an analysis of 99 journal articles, this paper seeks to provide a better understanding about differences and common grounds of the two strands of literature. Five analytical categories are developed and applied to assess and interpret insights from existing publications: (1) understandings, definitions, and objectives; (2) theoretical-conceptual underpinnings; (3) analytical and methodological approaches; (4) evaluation; and (5) governance. We find that there is ample opportunity for cross-fertilization of insights across these two literatures. Based on this in-depth analysis, the contours of a new concept of MOID are outlined through a formal definition of MOID and insights from the analysis are translated into future research questions to inform a transformative agenda for innovation policy.
KW - Challenge-orientation
KW - Innovation districts
KW - Innovation policy
KW - Missions
KW - Place-based innovation
KW - Transformative change
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85165531304&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138079
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138079
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85165531304
SN - 0959-6526
VL - 418
JO - Journal of Cleaner Production
JF - Journal of Cleaner Production
M1 - 138079
ER -
