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This collection on 'Artificial intelligence, big data, algorithms and Industry 4.0 in firms and clusters' is introduced exploring the themes discussed by the nine papers and grouped into three categories to uncover new dynamics and identify future research opportunities for clusters and organizations in these transformative times. The first group explores theoretical aspects of AI and its evolution in social sciences, focusing on industry 4.0, smart cities, big data, and other related topics. The second group examines the role of industrial robots in employment, productivity, and knowledge absorption in industrial districts. The third group discusses innovation in the context of local production systems, AI ecosystems, and the growth and potential of the Metaverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the first outcomes and results of using an integrated territorial tool applied by the Interreg V-A Slovakia-Hungary Cooperation Programme (2014–2020), the 'Territorial Action Plan for Employment', or, briefly: the TAPE. The tool is aimed at facilitating quality employment and cross-border labour mobility through the implementation of 2–7 interdependent projects within a geographically defined subregion of the programme area, with the involvement of SMEs, training institutions, NGOs and municipalities. The author introduces the tool and the nine TAPEs financed by the CBC programme and gives a comprehensive assessment of their outcomes and results from the points of view of cross-border labour market development, integrated soft planning and trust building with a special focus on the aspect of cross-border relevance. The study concludes that the tool does not meet the preliminary expectations: its cross-border relevance is not much stronger than the traditional standalone CBC projects. At the same time, the bottom-up cross-border planning exercise has significant added value which might make the tool attractive for other CBC programmes, too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our purpose is to examine the link between circular economy (CE) and territorial development in the literature. Works on CE most often deal with its integration within firms' strategies. The link between CE and the territorial development process (TDP) is more rarely studied. We define the TDP through the interaction between three key dimensions: coordination modalities between the stakeholders, institutional factors, and the resources generated in the process. Using a systematic literature review our aim is to understand, through the occurrences of those dimensions in the 265 papers selected, whether or not and how the issue of the TDP is addressed. Our first result is that a part of the literature on CE often focuses on one or two of the three key dimensions identified. The second result is to highlight several forms of interactions between the key dimensions, illustrating that CE can imply different types of TDPs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper investigates the location patterns and the effects co-working spaces (CWS) generate on the urban context. The focus is on Barcelona, one of the most important creative hubs in Europe in terms of knowledge-based, creative, digital, and sharing economy, and the city hosting the largest number of co-working spaces in Spain. The paper addresses three main questions: (1) Which are the location patterns of co-working spaces in Barcelona? (2) Do CWS agglomerate in the same areas? And, (3) Do CWS coagglomerate with the creative industries (CIs)? To do that, this paper uses open data on Barcelona neighbourhoods' socioeconomic composition provided by the Statistics Department of the Council of Barcelona and micro-geographic data of private CWS and creative labs in Barcelona. By using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Kd functions of agglomeration and coagglomeration, results show that CWS are highly concentrated in central areas of Barcelona where there are greater chances to meet customers and suppliers, the proximity to urban amenities and the fact of being associated to a specific place-image. Moreover, they coagglomerate with CIs firms, especially with symbolic and synthetic knowledge-based CIs. These results are relevant when assessing the actual goal of urban policies in Barcelona. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the role that demand can play in regional industrial transformation, focusing on new industry formation in peripheral regions. As we argue in this paper, demand can be an important driver for industrial transformation, yet often underscored in the literature on regional development. Demand includes aspects related to general consumption patterns, to co-development between users and producers, to public procurement, or to norms and values among consumers. Theory building departs from accounts on new path development, were peripheral regions are typically seen as providing unfavourable conditions for industrial transformation, due to a weak organizational and institutional endowment. The empirical analysis focusses on two cases of new regional industrial path development in Värmland, a peripheral region in Sweden, namely locally processed dairy products, as well as microbreweries. The analysis is based on in interviews with regional entrepreneurs and industry stakeholders. We highlight the multiple roles that demand has played in the renewal and creation these two new regional industrial growth paths in the Swedish periphery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leisure-led regional development refers to leisure as a mechanism to achieve broad societal goals within a region: economic revenue, employment and service levels but also cultural or conservationist ambitions. Engaging in such leisure-led regional development proves a complex matter. Based on ethnographies of leisure in the Dutch province of Fryslân conducted over a five-year period between 2013 and 2018, this paper argues that combining theoretical understanding of complexity theories with analyses based on both evolutionary and discursive approaches results in enhanced understanding of the interactions shaping uncertainty in leisure development. Results of field observations, interviews, participation and document analysis show that planning for leisure-led regional development should consider autonomous and evolutionary processes, whilst focusing on purposefully influencing the interactions and perspectives of actors in leisure. More precisely, this means shaping the narratives and practices in these institutions which make specific interactions more likely to develop. This can be undertaken by including in planning efforts the individual perspectives and emotions among actors in the regional leisure sector. To cope with uncertainty at the heart of leisure-led regional development, an adaptive strategy should be adopted, both in the planning efforts taken and in how such efforts are monitored and evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioclusters' promise of helping achieving sustainable bioeconomies has invoked great interest among policymakers and academia. However, bioclusters are not intrinsically sustainable. If they are to fulfil their promise, bioclusters must undergo green-restructuring. While cluster-research has elaborated on green regional development, we need more clarity on how clusters transition to normatively desired states; we need more evidence of how green-restructuring unfolds. In this study, we conduct a longitudinal analysis to demonstrate how a biocluster green-restructures through the interactions of agency, regional and industrial structures, and phenomena at (supra-)national levels. To execute this analysis, we created a novel cluster-evolution framework that treats clusters, and the regional innovation system and sectoral systems of innovation that contain the cluster, as complex adaptive systems. We applied this framework to study the greening of the Basque pulp-and paper-biocluster, over four phases between 1986 and 2019. Our analysis helped us discover patterns of agency, structural dynamics, and of agency-structure interactions and how supra-regional phenomena shaped structures and agency over the four phases. Based on our findings, we recommend policymakers encourage not only green-tech entrepreneurs, but also institutional-entrepreneurs and place-leaders who can help shape both (supra-)regional and industrial structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines two atypical sparsely populated regions and their experience implementing a strategy of forest-based bioeconomy through smart specialization. Smart specialization is increasingly promoted as an opportunity for green transformations. Indeed, its recent evolution from S3 to S4 is an effort to address environmental sustainability challenges alongside regional development. In this paper, we argue that one of smart specialization's early stages, the entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP), can help establish a basis for the green transformation of traditional industries located in sparsely populated areas. The EDP is a participatory process that gathers diverse actors interested in developing a common economic sector, mostly through innovation. We explain how multi-actor participation facilitate understanding innovation as a problem-solving process requiring the input of actors outside (but including) the firms. As the cases show, this can unlock the potential of place-based multi-actor interventions to identify and mobilize pre-existing conditions and resources that, when combined with a common agenda, can influence green path renewal. In our cases, those pre-existing conditions are a culture of collaboration, knowledge, infrastructure and access to natural resources. The common agenda is to transform the regional economy into a forest-based bioeconomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the impact of the different proximity dimensions on the subsequent innovation performance of firms which received radical knowledge spillovers. The analysis for the case of biotechnology small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs) in Germany is based on a dataset covering the period from 1998 to 2017. Results indicate the positive impact of social and organizational proximity on the innovation performance of radical knowledge recipients. Geographical proximity has a negative impact, whereas for cognitive proximity a U-shaped relation is observed. The paper contributes to the innovation economics and economic geography literature by underlining the peculiarities of the effectiveness of radical knowledge spillovers. Additionally, the importance of policy support for SMEs across regions and technological fields is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the innovative intensity (iMID effect) in the local production systems (LPSs) using dynamic territorial units that modifies their geographical boundaries and specialization over time. The paper is based on the idea that the local communities are the real unit of generation of innovation and that they are constantly changing, behaving like a 'living innovation machine'. To explore this dynamic relationship, the paper applies the Marshallian industrial district (MID) as an approach to industrial change. Then, it focuses on the Marshallian industrial districts (MIDs) as a type of LPS and asks how the innovation effect changes in MIDs and other types of LPSs when dynamic territorial units are used. The differences in innovation intensity between the different types of LPSs are explained for Spain in the period 1991–2014 using new methods of analysis that combine causal analysis, a variable and adaptive geometry of territorial units and industrial specialization, and machine learning methods. The results show that the transformation of an LPS into another type of LPS does not automatically imply a change in innovative capacity, and the type of LPS of origin continues to be relevant in explaining current innovation processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to propose a revision of the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) as a key driver in the Smart Specialization Strategy (S3) policy framework. To this end, the paper makes three major contributions. First, drawing on recent contributions that redefine entrepreneurship as a quasi-scientific process based on experimentation, we redefine the role and process of EDP within the S3 policy framework. Second, by referring to the concepts of the adjacent possible and speciation, we revise the scope of the discovery process, overcoming the traditional trade-off between technological relatedness and unrelatedness. Third, we address the implications of these changes in the context of the innovation gap between knowledge-intensive and lagging-behind regions in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of foreign investment, through acquisitions and mergers of local firms, on leading industrial clusters. While previous research has highlighted the increasing involvement of cluster firms in internationalization and knowledge globalization, the role of foreign investment requires further investigation. Power asymmetries between MNEs and partner firms are prevalent in global value chains, joint ventures, and strategic alliances, shaping the contemporary global economy. By analysing two clusters specialized in ceramic tile production (Castelló, Spain, and Sassuolo, Italy), this study aims to evaluate the impact of foreign investment on leading clusters, specifically distinguishing between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and investment funds. The research examines the perceived effects through a qualitative analysis, capturing the subjective impressions of local actors involved in acquired firms, independent local firms, technological suppliers, and supporting institutions. This paper contributes to the literature by addressing contradictory findings and providing insights into the balance between knowledge absorption and spillovers from MNEs or investment funds to local firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the use of conditionality to achieve directionality within transformative innovation policies. To date, research in this area has been very limited in spite of the increasing adoption of the instrument of conditionality to advance societal goals, such as in the context of the new US industrial policy. The paper contributes to filling this gap by taking the specific perspective of regional policies which offer for different reasons a vantage point to analyse the mechanism. We first conceptualize the main benefits and limitations arising from the use of conditionalities with a directional purpose. We then analyse the concrete application of this specific form of conditionality in four case studies from EU and domestic regional policy comprising both policy conditionalities (S3) and grant conditionalities (regional or national funding schemes). The case studies suggest that the instrument of conditionality requires a high degree of flexibility to be effective in transformative innovation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout history, small village communities in the Arctic have developed several strategies to ensure their survival. Along the Torne River, some fishing communities have produced specific architectures, landscapes, and social strategies to support their communities and survive for centuries. However, depopulation, aging, climate change, and the expansion of the extraction industry are threatening these villages. The hypothesis is that traditional fishing villages situated alongside rivers possess architectural, urban, and social attributes that can enhance outdoor activities linked to water and green spaces and enable the long-term social sustainability of Arctic villages. The innovative approach of the paper involves combining a mapping methodology of green and blue infrastructure with the architectural, urban, social and historical values of a place to identify design strategies for improving attractiveness demonstrating its efficacy, particularly in small, local-scale villages. The paper investigates the villages of Kukkola and Korpikylä taken as emblematic examples and explores the architectural and landscape value in relation to the green–blue infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the operationalization of policy directionality in terms of goal consistency as well as the spatial dimensions of problems and solutions. The study focuses on cross-border regions (CBRs), since they are engaged in cooperation to tackle common challenges. This study employs a comparative analysis across two EU CBRs, drawing on a theoretical framework that integrates the trinity of agency scholarships and the literature on the multiplicity of border functions. By combining these perspectives, we aim to illustrate how agents navigate the opportunity spaces generated within CBRs. This paper aims to shed light on the interplay between agents to navigate the conditions that the presence of international border generates in the EU cross-border regions (CBR)s to tackle Societal Challenges (SC)s. Through this integrated framework, we explore how agents perceive, interpret, and respond to the complex dynamics and possibilities that emerge in CBRs, shedding light on the interplay between structure and agency in these unique spatial settings. The findings show how SC can be framed at different scales with ambivalent results in terms of consistency of policy goals. Framed through the trinity agency framework, actors interacted collectively to generate and transfer knowledge in the CBRs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban freight transport is central to urban societies, and yet urban authorities have traditionally left it to private actors to resolve freight challenges. Urban authorities rely on different governance strategies to address freight that result in fragmented freight governance, as many solutions are fixed in time, sector, or place. Drawing on Bulkeley and Kern’s typology of four modes of governance – self-governing, governing through enabling, governing by provision, and governing by authority – this paper asks: in what ways do urban authorities use different modes of governance in the case of urban logistics? Empirically, the paper looks at the modes of freight governance through an explorative workshop, document analysis, and interviews from Norway’s four largest cities – Bergen, Stavanger, Oslo and Trondheim. It finds that these cities are limiting themselves to ‘less confrontational’ modes based on accommodating freight activities, which hinders institutionalisation of knowledge and prevents public governance from serving as a coordinating factor for urban logistics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to contribute to a qualitative understanding of rescaling and its impact on planning strategies and governance relations across scales. By investigating the effects of rescaling for the old scale 'left behind' – through the case of public transport planning in Sweden – this paper illustrates how rescaled tasks continue to engage the scale 'left behind' (and is a source of 'tensions'), long after a rescaling process has taken place. Through the lens of rescaling, three main points of discussion are highlighted in the paper: Firstly, processes of rescaling are intertwined with policy layering, and can as such be a source of both 'good and evil' for the continued planning on the scale 'left behind'. Secondly, this calls for an increased geographical sensitivity in research when investigating the effects of rescaling, as the formal and practical outcomes of rescaling can be spatially unequal for planning bodies with similar formal mandates on the same scale. Thirdly, the development of governance relations and 'tensions' between new and old scales, are by no means static in time nor space, and calls for increased dialogue across planning scales to aid in the transition of responsibilities from the old to the new scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the transformative potential of inward investment on cluster development. It undertakes this through the lens of the evolving semiconductor cluster in South Wales (UK) and within a context whereby the semiconductor industry is under pressure with government interventions to improve prospects being implemented at a time of increasing global tension in the industry. The paper reveals the potential of inward investors as agents of regional economic change and cluster development. It shows that the emerging South Wales cluster distinguishes itself in terms of investment motivation, commodities and services produced. These factors result in growing embeddedness in relation to elements such as joint research with higher education and intra-firm collaboration to develop new products and processes. The paper concludes that investments based on risky and fast-changing technologies in industries such as the semiconductor sector necessarily create challenges for policy makers. These are best managed by placing greater emphasis on developing the conditions to satisfy the needs of such knowledge-intensive industries in relation to labour market conditions, factor conditions and market access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that urban-regional income development depends on a larger fabric of economic relations at the national and international levels. Focusing on Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) in the US, the paper identifies firms' subsidiary networks across space and their changes over time. These networks form a basic architecture through which important growth impulses in production and innovation are transmitted that impact urban income levels. Using a balanced panel of U.S. CBSAs with LexisNexis Corporate Affiliations data from 1993 until 2017, we develop a model that examines the relationship between national and international connectivity and urban income levels, differentiated by origin/destination of ties, industrial sectors, and various interaction effects. Our results strongly support that linkages at both the national and international scale (particularly linkages with European locations) are significantly related to urban-regional income development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past 20 years, museums have made digital technologies key resources for accomplishing and innovating their functions. The current pandemic affirms museums' dependence on digital tools, which have become the only means to reach the public during lockdowns. While the scientific community generally examines information and communication technology as a tool to provide innovative museum functions, it rarely seeks to understand how digital solutions permeate daily organization and management. Through an extensive literature review, this paper aims to consolidate a pre-pandemic body of knowledge from which further investigations and useful suggestions can be developed. By benchmarking heterogeneous literature sources, the study identifies three core topics (business models, digital professions and digital strategy), questioning whether changes driven by digital technology within museums follow radical innovation or gradual adaptation. In the conclusions, the paper underlines major implications for museums, policy makers and scholars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An organization's capability to build, handle and exploit relationships and learn from these relations, defined here as relational capabilities, is increasingly important in a networked economy and in innovation activities. The paper introduces a framework that helps understand and analyse the relational capabilities of various organizations engaged in innovation activities. Based on theoretical discussion and empirical analysis the paper argues that the literature on organizational level capabilities and relational capabilities would benefit from deeper integration with the systems of innovation perspective. The empirical findings from three Finnish regions indicate that relational capabilities become particularly relevant in research–business–government cooperation contributing to innovation in the field of bioeconomy. Relational capabilities embedded in an organization's capability configurations can boost the efficient use of that organization's resources, bring greater flexibility, a chance to create value in networks and support renewal and innovation. Missing or underdeveloped relational capabilities may also hinder an organization's ability to tap into the economic opportunities that arise leading to failures at the regional and system level thus hampering the transition towards a bioeconomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a rising globalization of the economy and society, the digital transformation, and the economic downturn started in 2008, working is becoming less dependent on distance, location, and time. These are some of the reasons that have fostered the development and diffusion of new working spaces like coworking spaces. The paper aims at exploring the location determinants of coworking spaces, an issue that has been less developed by the literature up to now. By focusing on the 549 coworking spaces located in Italy at the year 2018, the paper investigates the location factors of such workplaces, and the attractiveness of large cities as well as peripheral areas. The results of the descriptive statistics and the econometric analysis (a Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial model is applied) confirm that coworking is mainly an urban phenomenon, since coworking spaces tend to be knowledge-intensive places for creative people. Specifically, the municipalities showing higher innovation and entrepreneurial environment (i.e. major cities) are preferred locations. Besides, it is discussed whether coworking spaces may contribute to fostering the development of peripheral and inner areas in Italy, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic where the share of teleworkers outside metropolitan areas has massively increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chain stores have changed the retail landscape leading to the decline of small independent retail. Consequently, public street life on shopping streets is fading, and many premises have been left vacant during the past decade. However, in Finland, such transformation in the retail landscape coincides with the rapid growth of ethnic retail in some Helsinki neighbourhoods, such as Malmi, an area undergoing major urban renewal. The aim of this research is to study the current condition of Malmi public life and to investigate the capacity of ethnic retail to enhance it. Another aim is to examine how ethnic retail has been reflected in deploying scenario planning. The paper argues that ethnic retail has an evident role in improving vitality. The city of Helsinki showed willingness to integrate ethnic retail in its vision for developing the area, but with some shortcomings. The study recommends that ethnic retailers in Malmi, and similar areas, should be recognized for their role in formulating ethnic identities and reinforcing public street life. As such, the paper contributes to literature on urban renewal and space identity with a focus on future uncertainties facing small retailers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'Bilbao effect' describes the potential of iconic architectural developments (IADs) designed by world famous architects to act as a catalyst for economic revitalization and transformation within neighbourhoods or regions. Despite the ubiquity of this term, its validity is still debated. Furthermore, research on the topic has relied almost exclusively on individual or small-N comparative case studies. This paper builds on this research by testing the Bilbao effect through a quantitative analysis of 142 IADs completed in Canada and the United States between 2000 and 2009. Using fixed effects modelling, a method that controls for selection bias, the analysis examines the effect of IADs on a set of outcome variables that measure neighbourhood-level economic and cultural changes during this period: population, rent, the number of local arts establishments and the number of cultural workers living in the area. The analysis demonstrates that neighbourhoods with IADs generally experienced more economic and cultural growth than non-IAD neighbourhoods during this time period. However, the paper also complicates these findings by examining differences in how this growth manifests itself within emerging versus established neighbourhoods. These differences are illustrated through a comparison of the Dallas Arts District and Lincoln Square, Manhattan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper builds on an intensive and unique survey of all Czech municipalities (n = 6,258) regarding the geoparticipatory spatial tools used in the decision-making processes of local administrations and the Index of Geoparticipation derived from the dataset. Furthermore, we have collected and analysed data regarding 238 participatory budgeting events in the Czech Republic from the years 2012–2020. This paper is divided into two sections. We investigate the relationships among the municipalities' membership in the Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic network (HCCZ), as well as the municipalities' levels of indebtedness and their performances in the Index of Geoparticipation and their usage of participatory budgeting. Our primary theory states that membership in HCCZ and higher values in the Index of Geoparticipation will support the use of participatory budgeting, while indebtedness will discourage municipalities from implementing participatory budgeting. We deepen the knowledge of participatory budgeting in the Czech Republic, while focusing on the qualitative analysis of projects that have been approved and implemented through the tool of participatory budgeting at the municipal level. Additionally, we examine what type of projects the funds are allocated to and how the characteristics of these projects change over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban fabric can be characterised as an ever-evolving assemblage operating on multiple scales; constantly being constituted and reshaped by internal and external elements, not making it possible to regard any place as an isolated entity at a specific scale. Through an overview of relational place theory, this paper aims to theoretically discuss how local planning practices need to include a relational and multi-scalar approach to cope with complex urban and rural realities if they wish to create development in local places. To unfold this, the paper reveals some of the empirical implications of such a multi-scalar urban reality, by analysing how two selected Danish municipalities seek to relate to, respond to and comply with the networked and relational reality of place in their planning practices. The empirical work builds among others on students' field work and the cases expose the importance of working with totalities, relations and networks on multiple scales; however, they also reveal the challenges related to the manifestations of such a practice. The paper argues that, despite the challenges associated with this practice, the current complex global interconnectedness of places calls for an increased focus on strategic municipal planning approaches that are both multi-scalar and place-sensitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of EU rural development policies and imaginaries have entailed that rural areas in Europe and their residents have been assigned specific roles concerning local responsibility and identities when it comes to attaining positive territorial development. The paper approaches the rationality of rural development as community-led through a lens of Governmentality and Europeanisation to explore how the local alignment of actions and government rationalities are linked. The presented research outlines rural development discourse first in EU rural policy and then at the local level through an analysis of text data published by a local development association. The paper traces the linkage between the two institutional levels and establishes how the success of rural development is not only to constitute issues and themes in a particular form but also to have these embedded locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preparations for the EU's post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework have brought increased interest to the functional approach as a major paradigm of the EU policies towards cross-border areas. This approach aims to focus cross-border programmes on territories where there is a high degree of cross-border interaction. Cross-border functional areas (CBFAs) can be a potential instrument for this, fostering further reduction of cross-border barriers and enhancing flows of people, goods, materials and knowledge. However, certain aspects of this notion are rather vague. This includes both the way how to turn the rather discursive concept of the CBFA into more material-institutional practices, and how CBFAs can be identified in practice to successfully implement the EU's cohesion policy. This paper debates the concept of the CBFA and proposes understanding CBFAs as spatially specific territorial complexes, located on two (or more) sides of a state border(s) that are not defined by administrative borders, but by cross-border functional linkages, a system of cooperative relationships and the existence of governance mechanisms. The paper proposes a novel approach for CBFA's identification based on a four-level model, taking into account the selected criteria. The proposed framework enabled to identify CBFAs and potential CBFAs at the borders of Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether natural disasters open a policy window of opportunity for sustainable transition in lagging regions. Bridging disaster studies and the transition management approach, the authors define the Post-Disaster Policy Window of Opportunity (PPWO) concept, as a heuristic tool to assess the acceleration of a sustainable transition generated by a shock. The paper applies PPWO to the case study of the Central Italy earthquake (2016) deploying both primary and secondary data concerning public policies designed to pursue societal challenges at regional levels. The authors examine (i) the governance scheme, (ii) the objectives, and (iii) the policy implementation strategy of the transition as agreed in a pre-disaster phase, and whether they changed during the disaster and in its aftermath. The findings highlight natural disasters per se cannot prompt a radical change to territorial development patterns in lagging regions. However, disasters' potential to spur sustainable transitiońs acceleration can be enabled through a place-based approach with a coherent vertical and horizontal policy coordination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The innovation literature increasingly addresses grand challenges and transformative change. However, the issue of to what extent transformative change can build upon the resources, actors and institutions of existing innovation systems has not received sufficient attention. Against this background this paper aims to advance our understanding of the geographies and continuities of transformative change, by exploring the role of regional innovation systems in mission-oriented innovation. Based on an in-depth case study of electrification of ferries in Western Norway, the paper finds that the accomplishment of the mission was in large part due to the fact that it created new regional economic opportunities and built upon and mobilized existing regional resources, actors and structures. This mission re-orientation of an existing regional innovation system was characterized by (a) limited contestation, low complexity and low uncertainty about the technological battery-driven solutions pointed at, (b) multi-actor and multi-scalar agency and finally (c) asset modification of strong and pre-existing RIS structures, institutions and regulatory context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional innovation policy, and related research, are being pressurized to transform by today's grand societal challenges. Our paper acknowledges the efforts of authors in this field to address this pressure and addresses how new emergent framings of innovation policy can be operationalized in practice. We explore how co-generative research can help achieve this and share the case of a think tank in the Basque Country (Spain) which we describe as a hybrid space because of the way researchers and policy makers work together. The case is then used to revisit the methodology that researchers have used for co-generation (action research for territorial development) and to upgrade this methodology with a new concept, an action research think tank. The final discussion goes beyond action research and the case study, to look at how co-generation can improve learning processes between policy makers and researchers in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land-use planning can be seen as a way of controlling future development. As strategic planning defines new ambitions and rapidly changing circumstances call for implementation, more adaptable land-use planning is needed. In this paper different dimensions and characteristics of adaptable versus rigid planning are presented in a theoretical model. In this model, two dimensions of legal certainty are added to the state-of-the-art literature. Adaptability is not only defined by the material and procedural dimensions of land-use plans, also the legal and time dimensions are highly determinant. In a case study, the rigid planning system of the Flemish region is investigated by its determining characteristics. Based on empirical evidence from historical research, our paper shows how successive political decisions increased legal certainty for landowners leaving a small margin for policy change. Different dimensions and characteristics that could unlock the paralyzed system are assessed. In particular, the paramount importance of the time dimension in binding land-use plans and compensation schemes is highlighted. This case study demonstrates the need of embedding systematic review procedures and expiry dates in the planning system. Our findings are especially relevant for all planning systems that tend towards high legal certainty and protection of property rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central governments are increasingly preoccupied with problems of regional development, ranging from political discontent to sustainability transitions. New development funds are unfolded with different rationalities about what spatially just redistribution is. This paper aims to uncover in what ways issues are problematized in regional development policies, in which normative principle of redistributive justice the policy problem is primarily grounded, and how this affects regional development investments. This study critically examines an empirical case of policy for regional development in the Netherlands: the Region Deals (Regio Deals). The findings show that even though Dutch central government discursively problematized people who are left behind in the progress of the country, this priority was not maintained for places that are left behind. The Dutch case exemplifies that government rationalities about 'right' and 'wrong' regional development are a crucial factor to which regions benefit most from redistribution. Yet these rationalities are underexposed and inconsistently articulated in policy documents and political discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to study how changes in unrelated variety influence individuals' poverty alleviation. Drawing on the LiTS III database, we employed the Oprobit model to test 5007 individual-level observations from 23 regions in four former Yugoslavian countries. All results imply that the changes in unrelated variety have a U-shaped relationship with individuals' poverty alleviation. Our findings enrich the unrelated variety research by providing micro-level evidence and offer practical insights for governments, organizations and individuals aiming to reduce poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper unpacks the relationship between local culture and agency to enhance our understanding of local variations of agency. The paper studies two former old industrial places in Sweden; one place characterized by an entrepreneurial culture (Borås), the other with a company town culture (Kiruna). Both cases experienced structural crisis around 1970s. A study period of more than 30 years is used to analyse actions and actors present in different phases of development, using 38 semi-structured interviews. The concepts of change agency and reproductive agency are used to analyse agentic patterns. Cultural transformation is mapped using values, heroes, symbols and rituals. The paper finds that the entrepreneurial culture is an enabling condition for change agency, whereas the company town culture is hampering change agency. The paper also finds that lock-ins can continue to affect actors after a crisis and that opportunities for change agency therefore is actor-specific, i.e. that local agency varies between actors and over time. Reproductive agency is present in both regions to maintain the cultural identity, but the company town culture is more resistant to institutional changes. Yet, both local cultures have changed, and in both cases the changes have opened for more change agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City-regions in Central Eastern Europe are still underrepresented in academic debate on metropolitan planning and governance. However, they may provide a valuable insight into the early stages of creating planning partnerships that struggle to cope with problems arising from uncoordinated spatial development in the period of post-socialist transformation, which was not addressed adequately by formal planning systems and regular territorial-administrative units. The paper presents a comparative analysis of six city-regions in Central Eastern Europe based on a review of strategic and planning documents, and direct interviews with representatives of key stakeholders in each area. The main findings of the paper include the significant but underestimated role of the second-tier local governments in metropolitan institutional setups and the crucial position of emerging coalitions of academics, metropolitan-oriented officials and planners for establishing a sustainable planning agenda in the city-region. City-regions in CEE do not follow the categorization of soft spaces of planning that is derived from other territorial contexts. This is because the spatial planning efforts within city-regional soft spaces in CEE are more sustainability-driven than growth-oriented. Yet, more ambitious spatial visions may be overshadowed by a strong focus of local elected politicians on infrastructure projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last two decades have witnessed a growing commitment to European public space projects seeking to promote social cohesion. These projects are built on the premise that social cohesion is under threat from the increasing cultural and economic differences in contemporary cities, and that it should be promoted through public spaces. This paper examines the key commonalities and differences among these new public space projects, in terms of their social, economic and planning policy contexts, social goals, design aims, processes and outcomes, and their diverse representational and use needs. The paper characterizes three distinct open space design approaches – Symbolic, Programmatic and Minimalist – that governments and designers that have put forward as best practices to enhance social cohesion, which have all been applied in similar socio-cultural and urban contexts: multicultural, low-income neighbourhoods that are experiencing gentrification. By combining theories and methods from urban design and social sciences, this paper offers an assessment and comparison of the three case studies and their relative merits and limitations in terms of how they used public space design to support the divergent functional and representational needs of diverse social groups, and the common aim of enhancing cohesion among these groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial planning as a field in continuous transition needs a way of working that allows for questioning its professional practice. In this paper, we focus on the design of 4-days long 'studios' for planning professionals that aim to reflect on new notions of democratic practice and participatory planning. During these studios, different methods to enhance a collective reflective attitude among participants were tested. The paper describes how the tutors of the studios tried to encourage participants to develop their own theory of practice by iteratively (re)designing the learning artefacts, learning content and learning modes of the studio. In the conclusions of this paper, we introduce the idea of a Participation Studio Conjecture Map to support and structure a culture of collective reflection-in (participatory planning) organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In small towns with ageing societies, the voices of the young often tend to get marginalized in local policy discourse. The paper explores how young people are trying to counter this trend through the creation of a self-organized youth and sociocultural centre in Görlitz, a town that suffered major transformation in the aftermath of German reunification. Görlitz also made national headlines when a Eurosceptic right-wing party gained a large share of votes in recent elections. In this context, it is quite surprising to see an initiative like the sociocultural centre emerge and grow into a relevant urban development player. By combining research on youth participation and spatial (in)justice, the paper argues in favour of the important role of youth as active drivers of local development and creators of less institutionalized platforms for democratic engagement. In transformation towns such as Görlitz, initiatives like the youth and sociocultural centre can be game changers in terms of countering spatial injustices by creating positive narratives over the town, fostering pluralistic public discourse, and preventing youth outmigration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the policy context of spatial injustice in Greece. Given the polarized nature of the economy and the centralized structure of the public sector, the paper examines whether place-based policies that attempt to strengthen the local level and mobilize local assets would be better opt to deliver a fair and equitable distribution of socially valued resources and opportunities in space. In this context, the paper presents and discusses the findings of four case studies and four policy-driven actions related to the design and implementation of a post-lignite local strategy, the establishment of a credible innovation strategy in a metropolitan area, the development of social economy in a lagging region and the upscaling of local government in a medium-sized city. The case studies investigate the conditioning factors that encourage or obstruct the local level to implement effective place-based policies that can contribute to spatial justice. On this basis, the paper evaluates the capability of the current policy and institutional setting to generate spatial justice and provides policy recommendations that will empower the local level in confronting socio-economic challenges and unbalanced spatial growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City growth in Helsinki is based on urban renewal steered by a policy preventing segregation. Meanwhile, chain stores dominate the Finnish retail market, and small mainstream retail is hardly seen in Helsinki. Although many old strip malls have been left vacant by the decline in small mainstream retail, ethnic retail has remarkably converted two strip malls into the most livable urban hubs in Helsinki. In 2019–2020, two planning competitions were held in response to the city objectives of forming urban centers through densification. This paper studies both competitions to examine their capacity to reflect urban diversity as a value in their results. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, it demonstrates that competitions were not structured to respond to urban diversity. Second, both cases lacked effective consulting with ethnic retailers and the immigrant community affected by the urban renewal. Third, it argues that urban diversity is achievable if a genuine will exists to support competitions in freely inventing ideas empowering diversity. Furthermore, the results suggest that the alliance between the municipal monopoly of planning, the chain stores and the property shareholding companies created many images of power in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital platforms play a central role in the development of the Digital Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (DEE). The growing body of research addressing the issue of imbalances in DEEs has raised the challenge of how to recommend policies specifically designed to overcome the causes of such imbalances. This paper explores the issue of platformization in three developed and high-income countries in the European Union: Germany, France and Austria. The framework and empirical measurement of the Digital Platform Economy (DPE) Index are used to analyze the state of DEE in these three countries, identify the most prominent weaknesses that could be barriers, and propose policy recommendations to overcome these barriers and promote the development of DEE. The results of the three-step investigation present the current state of DEE in each country and find that similar constraining elements in the Digital Multi-Sided Platforms of the three countries have the most potential to systemically disrupt the DEE balance. Tailor-made policies with a holistic approach are recommended to address these constraining elements and target overall DEE growth. The results of this study are expected to motivate future research highlighting the issues surrounding multi-sided platform markets in the context of digital economic development in the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With sustainability orientation and opportunities provided for economic growth, the circular economy is much promoted by the Welsh government in recent years. In this region, Communities of practice (CoP) are cultivated to link various industry sectors together, sharing knowledge and creating a practical solution to circular economy related challenges. While current literature provides the framework of a regional innovation ecosystem in the form of Triple Helix, the role of CoP is underexplored. The key research question of this paper is 'how can the CoP approach cultivate regional circular economy innovation?' Through an in-depth case study of the Communities of Circular Economy Innovation (CEIC) project in East Wales, the paper identifies the construct of CoP, its dynamic lifecycle, and the interaction between CoP and Triple Helix. Findings reveal that whilst universities and government play a leading role in innovation at early stages by deliberately establishing the CoP, the self-governance of CoP at later stages results in active influence on industry changes and policy designs. The paper contributes to the literature on micro-relations among regional innovation actors by highlighting the role of CoP in creating emerging new knowledge and tools. It also provides practical implications to industry and policy makers to promote a regional circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a growing number of institutional mapping approaches has reflected on border regions' development. These approaches visualise the relationship between institutional and spatial patterns. In parallel, the quality and quantity of cooperation-related information in the EU KEEP database (DB) is continuously increasing. The aim of our paper is two-fold. Firstly, we aim to understand the cooperation dynamics and funding geographies of the recent INTERREG A period. We do so with the example of cross-border programmes with German participation. More concretely, we scrutinise the relationships that exist between the spatial configurations of funded project cooperation, the involved thematic topics and the role of territorial contexts, particularly in terms of the degree of urbanisation and distance to a border. Secondly, we reflect on the potential and limitations of institutional mapping based on KEEP data. Specifically, we explore the explanatory capacity of institutional mappings based on KEEP data and discuss the blind spots that must be considered and how these could be addressed. The general conclusion from our paper is that institutional mapping based on the KEEP DB proves to be a strong data exploration tool with potential for comparative analyses. However, it has clear limitations with regard to causality testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the case of PalaFuksas, a signature building inaugurated in 2005 and located in the central (but marginalized) area of Porta Palazzo in Turin, Italy. Originally designed to host clothing shops, the building had a history of failures and reconversions, and it is currently mainly used as a branded food hall. By mixing archive and qualitative research, the article focuses on the evolution amongst local stakeholders, of different 'expectations', intended as heterogeneous and not fully conscious and rational sets of ideas, imaginaries, forecasts. PalaFuksas was expected to be a successful and functional building to contain businesses, a flagship for the entire city, and to perform distinction and iconicity, acting as a regenerator for its neighbourhood. Failures in meeting these expectations implied a continuous renegotiation of the meanings, functions and identities of PalaFuksas, revealing the complexity of the processes at play in the attempt to sign, re-sign and ultimately 'become' a signature building. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale urban projects that make use of exceptional architecture face a number of challenges: namely the scale and complexity of the projects as well as the elevated expectations faced by architectural and engineering firms. Meeting these challenges requires the development and approval of non-standard design and technical solutions. Based on the analysis of four case studies in the German context, we show how the creation of exceptional architecture requires that built environment professionals actively negotiate with established norms and standards in various ways. The learning processes thus enabled are contradictory. On the one hand, knowledge gained in the process of developing innovative solutions remains exclusive and, often, codification and standardization do not occur. On the other hand, in some instances, standards and norms are adapted to inform and guide other projects. In conclusion, this paper argues, norms and standards constitute a contested terrain and are characterized by a contradictory performativity. This paper thus advances wider debates on innovation in the building industry by highlighting the extreme tensions and ambivalent trade-offs that exist between the development of unique and tailor-made solutions for singular buildings and the investment in the standardization of novel products for the built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creative clusters are increasingly being recognized as vital tools in the promotion of the competitiveness, innovation, urban development, and growth of cities in developed countries. This paper studies the geography of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in Barcelona (Spain) for the years 2009 and 2017. We investigate the spatial distribution of firms using the Scan methodology, which identifies the localization of clusters and assigns them statistical significance. Our findings indicate that CCIs are not located haphazardly— they tend to cluster in and around Barcelona's prime districts. The evolution of the clusters over these nine years reveals distinct patterns of clustering among the twelve CCI sub-sectors. The mature clusters in Barcelona's core tend to have greater growth and enhanced transformation capabilities. Our results can guide CCI cluster policy, taking into account the specificity of each sub-sector. In addition, they can direct place-based development strategies, creative urban and rural planning, and restructuring in a polycentric context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharing of spaces enhances networking and collaboration in cultural and creative industries on both formal and informal levels. Nevertheless, there is a lack of awareness concerning coworking spaces (CWS) and their resilience through knowledge sharing in communities, especially in space–community–coworker interactions. The aim is to identify how CWS enhance their resilience through knowledge sharing in communities and develop collective learning in local creative ecosystems to promote adaptation. A total of 34 in-depth face-to-face interviews with CWSs founders or managers and 17 creative entrepreneurs in selected CWS in Europe. Using content analysis by axial and selective coding of the collected primary data, groups of codes were eventually integrated to interpret the issue by its contextualization using grounded theory as a research approach in such qualitative study. Results suggest that CWS strengthen their resilience through cross-over innovation with diverse stakeholder engagement and spillover effects of knowledge sharing as a part of space resilience. These initiatives contribute to community resilience with a focus on entrepreneurial thinking and career development. CWS develop interactive learning models as initiatives to retain and attract creative entrepreneurs in communities. The paper concludes that CWS can develop a creative ecosystem with systematic collective learning engaging different stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial access is considered a crucial element of entrepreneurship. Much of the literature focuses on how individual actors demand or supply finance, but rarely within the context of systemic entrepreneurship. The current entrepreneurial finance literature is fragmented and rooted in various traditions. However, the entrepreneur's perceived role in aggregated wealth creation is currently being strengthened, most recently by the emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem perspective. This calls for exploring the role of finance in systemic entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems. By conducting a systematic literature review of financial determinants, sources and effects, the study synthesizes debates across the different research fields, i.e. finance, entrepreneurship and regional development. As the entrepreneurial ecosystem concept is considered a pre-paradigmatic approach, the paper argues that the role of finance depends on how we regard and define ecosystems. The state of knowledge is also underdeveloped due to the obstacles of acquiring longitudinal data. Such issues keep us from achieving a better evolutionary and processual understanding of the financial dynamics in ecosystems and, therefore, presents a promising avenue for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has examined geographical variations in SME access to external finance, especially bank loans. Rather less attention has been paid to how far SME equity access difficulties in more peripheral regions, and cities within these regions, is a demand or supply side issue, and how far equity investments are concentrated in specific urban areas in peripheral regions. This paper examines these topics through an analysis of small firm equity deals across the UK regions, before focusing on the case of the Welsh economy. In the case analysis a low equilibrium for small business equity investment in Wales is identified, with low demand and poor supply of equity, but with a relatively high concentration of equity deals in the Cardiff urban area. The paper examines the potential implications of a low equity equilibrium and provides a challenge for further research in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]