Search

This report analyzes the start-up ecosystem in Tokyo and the greater surrounding area in Japan in the transition of the innovation model to a hybrid of traditional public sector-university-corporation research and development (R and D) combined with start-up agile innovation. It first introduces the role of a start-up ecosystem in contributing to the development of global cities, and thus to the wider national economy. It then takes a country-level view of Japan’s innovation system, within which the metropolitan region operates, in the transition to the innovation-start-up ecosystem. This description is followed by an analysis of the specifics of the Tokyo start-up ecosystem - which consists of investment, support infrastructure, and skills infrastructure - factors that merit close inspection and deep analytics. And finally, the report ends with conclusions - what can be done better or differently to exploit opportunities within Tokyo - but also wider lessons for other global cities.

This report builds on the findings from the Technical Deep Dive (TDD) ‘Creative Cities: Case of Kyoto,’ organized by the Tokyo Development and Learning Center (TDLC) in partnership with UNESCO and the City of Kyoto in January 2020. The TDD focused on the framework for developing creative cities and the impact that creative industries can have on cities’ spatial, economic, and social development. Using the case of Kyoto in Japan, the TDD highlighted the different components of creative neighborhoods and communities and how to build them. This report uses the case of Kyoto to demonstrate how city planners and the local private sector can collectively build creative communities. It builds on an important conversation on how to leverage creative cities to safeguard inclusive economic development and catalyze urban spaces that enhance economic, urban, and social development. Insights for this report were derived from a literature review along with interviews with practitioners with a focus on creative clusters and spatial transformation. Social inclusion is also a theme that we discuss in the report, though to a lesser degree because of data constraints. This report provides distilled practical lessons and key insights for policy makers and practitioners interested in applying the concept of creative cities effectively. Using the case of Kyoto, the report analyzes how creative communities and policy action can be leveraged for urban transformation not only at the neighborhood level but also citywide and beyond.

This FrontEnd Toolkit is about applying Design Thinking to transform new ideas into innovative products, services andbusinesses with an impact. The front end development of new user and customer-oriented solutions is a key opportunity aswell as a significant challenge for organizations and success is built on collaborative approaches. The overall objective is to help policy- makers, project owners, and managers as well as their stakeholders to design and implement projects with real impact. The Toolkit helps to establish an idea’s key value to stakeholders, and supports planning for the creation of high impact projects. It assists in defining complexity, cost, delivery, functionality,and future upgrade potential of a concept and creates new opportunities for partnerships. The Front End innovation is all about purposefully combining different skills, disciplines, and resources with knowledge related to the local innovation ecosystem to gain insights that inspire and help shape a new, valuable offering. The process of creating this constellation of elements involves understanding emerging opportunities,client and user mindsets, needs and expectations. It also involves making sense of the competitive environment, the social and individual constraints and enablers that drive the acceptance and up take of new products, services and business models.

Communities of entrepreneurs are creating positive impacts on local economies. When they establish new businesses and innovate across industries, they bring about economic growth and employment. Entrepreneurs are generally drawn to cities because of their available resources and networks, specifically access to knowledge and sector-specific needs, and the exchange of information that occurs when an entrepreneurial community is brought together. Central to these ecosystems are creative community spaces (CCSs)—a range of physical spaces that enable innovation by creating a convening point for a community of entrepreneurs and start-ups. CCSs serve to anchor entrepreneurial communities and influence the urban economic and physical landscape.This report showcases a selection of 13 CCSs around the world that contribute to building a community that is sustainable and entrepreneurial and/or is helping advance an industry-specific or sectoral community. This report’s only intent is to showcase inspiring examples and models being implemented in diverse environments across the world. The authors hope this will help catalyze a conversation about the role of creative spaces in urban ecosystem development and provide policy makers as well as city innovation practitioners and private investors a better understanding of these spaces and how to leverage them effectively.

New York city has become one of the largest and most vibrant tech startup ecosystems in the world. Today, the city is widely seen as a leading startup hub worldwide. However, this was not something one can have anticipated just ten years ago. The financial crisis shocked the city, providing the circumstances for the transformation of the New York startup scene. By 2015, New York accounted for nearly a 6 billion dollars venture capital investment in startups and had over 14,500 startups. New York ecosystem provides insights on how startups are impacting city economies, generating new sources of jobs and helping transforming the urban landscape. New York represents a new model of startup ecosystems that is emerging in cities worldwide. Different to silicon valley’s suburban ecosystem, New York’s is urban in nature and well integrated into the local economy and industry base. New York is the prime example of the new urban startup ecosystem model. Although New York remains distinguished in many ways as a city, many of the challenges it faced when developing the tech ecosystem are similar to those confronted by many other cities. These include: (a) lack of technical talents, (b) lack of available seed finance, (c) limited affordable space for entrepreneurs, and (d) a small and decentralized community. The policies to support the ecosystem from the city provide valuable lessons to policymakers with similar goals in their economies.

Increasing signs suggest that the economy is in the process of a significant restructuring process. Technology-led transformations are no longer limited to technology-related sectors and are beginning to impact structural sectors, including manufacturing, retailing, transportation, and construction. This change has potentially significant implications for the competitiveness of countries, business, and people. Some countries are starting to react to these economic changes in order to maintain their competitiveness. Most of these countries, however, are developed countries. If emerging economies want to remain competitive, they will also need to adapt to these economic trends. This paper presents policy areas for countries to prepare these economies to technology changes in order to maintain competitiveness and the creation of employment and growth.

Cities are emerging as hubs of technological innovation. This is characterized by an ongoing shift from technology parks in suburban areas, to entrepreneurial activity within cities. There is a global trend of startups in cities like Berlin, Buenos Aires, Mumbai and Madrid. The rise of technology startups in cities is leading to new sources of employment and economic growth, by creation of new businesses and employment categories. Traditional manufacturing and routine cognitive skills jobs are being eroded, and the creation of new sources of employment and growth is vital to maintain competitiveness, reduce poverty, and increase shared prosperity. The growth of tech innovation and entrepreneurship is not equal in all cities. Some cities experience higher, faster, and more sustainable growth than others. This paper discusses research on what factors make tech innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems grow faster and larger in some cities. The findings point out that the social dimension, or the interpersonal connections and communities, are critical for the growth and sustainability of the ecosystem; and, that networking assets (defined as community building events, skill training events, collaboration spaces, and networking of mentors) are central to this social dimension. This paper includes a) proposed framework for urban technology innovation ecosystems based on this findings; b) testing of the framework in New York, and; c) policy implications of this findings.