Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
11﻽7
Creating Knowledge Cities
Despite the increase in information about the characteristics of places that can be
described as Knowledge Cities, the processes by which they can be created are still
not entirely clear. Cities or parts of cities have very different features and problems
and those that have developed a strong basis of knowledge activities have done so
in different ways. Nevertheless, a broad outline of the key processes that have been
proposed as favouring Knowledge City development for the city as a whole, or at
least part of it, is emerging, and can be summarized in terms of several main stages.
Within each of these stages it is argued that a potential Knowledge City must be an
active one that evaluates itself, acts upon its existing assets, and creates future ones
to achieve its own rejuvenation and sustainability, rather than being the passive re-
cipient of policies from other decision-makers, whether in firms or national govern-
ments, as the quotation that began this chapter showed (Ergazakis 2004 , p. 5). This
involves creating a strategic vision and plan, that involves several different stages.
11.7.1
The Spark
There seems little doubt that the only way in which a city is to begin the process of
transformation to a Knowledge City is when its decision makers and citizens explic-
itly recognize the social urgency of the need to respond to a situation of decline. In
addition, a city must possess the social and political will to attempt re-generation
in order to re-position itself for a new future, which implies an activist government
able to act. Unfortunately, many western cities that experienced industrial losses
from the 1960s, due to the loss of their own material-based production facilities,
clung to the belief that their future would be assured by reviving these old activi-
ties through campaigns and policies to attract similar industries. Such policies were
usually supported by Chambers of Commerce and city administrations. Knight's
( 1995 ) pioneering work used the case of Cleveland (Ohio) to show that such poli-
cies made the existing situation worse by not cleaning up the old industrial sites
for different uses and by failing to recognize the importance of keeping the many
Head Quarter offices that the city possessed from moving elsewhere. Knight argued
that Cleveland wasted almost two decades before recognizing that the industrial
past was dead and charting a new direction based on emerging knowledge-based
activities and co-operation between the existing companies. This was pioneered by
the 'Cleveland Tomorrow' vision that outlined the new course to be developed by
a partnership between public, private and voluntary sectors, in which it was recog-
nized that many of the problems faced by individual companies were the same and
could be only solved by co-operative effort. This needed explicit recognition of the
problems, followed by creative endogamous action by governments, businesses and
citizens to solve them, rather than hoping for future development generated only
by exogamous decision-makers in distant corporations or governments. Yet there
is a need to be cautious about the assumption that this is the only path to success.
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