Knowledge Neighbourhoods: Urban Form and Evolutionary Economic Geography

Spencer G. M. Knowledge neighbourhoods: urban form and evolutionary economic geography, Regional Studies. This paper examines connections between the urban form of neighbourhoods in relation to the evolutionary economic geography of knowledge-intensive industries. The data presented show that firms in ‘creative’ industries tend to be located in dense, mixed-use neighbourhoods near the city core, while ‘science-based’ industries tend to be concentrated in low-density, single-use neighbourhoods in the suburbs. It is argued that these spatial patterns are related to the fact that inter-firm networks are more important in the ‘creative’ industries, while ‘science-based’ industries rely more heavily on intra-firm interactions and learning.