Innovation

Key references

Abstract: The city is arguably where innovations concentrate. Agglomeration and diversity are two major explanations for why innovations concentrate in the city. Existing studies tend to focus on knowledge dynamics, in particular interfirm networks, while paying insufficient attention to the process of urban development in which knowledge dynamics are materialized. We concur that the city itself does not possess such a power for innovation (Shearmur, 2012). Rather, it is an arena where various actors exert impacts on knowledge dynamics. In a view from China, we reveal why bio-tech innovations concentrate in particular places and what political economic processes contribute to such concentration. We highlight the need for a political economic analysis in economic geographical studies of innovation.

Abstract: The Chinese government has recently formulated a long-term strategy to “foster indigenous innovation capacities” across technology sectors. The government provides incentives to attract global R&D investment and strives to upgrade its economic structure to develop China into “an innovation nation.” This paper examines the exact meaning of this policy in the context of biotechnology development in Shanghai’s Zhangjiang High-Tech Park (ZJHP). We suggest that the role of the municipal state has been critical in the initial stage of biotech concentration in the park, and in the later stage biotech developments in ZJHP have been encouraged to become embedded in the global knowledge flow. The development of ZJHP reveals a hybrid approach to the governance of innovation in China, which combines the developmental state and entrepreneurialism at the scale of the science park as an urban project.

The Regional Innovation System in Shanghai. From the paper above.

Abstract: This article examines the transformation of China’s national and regional innovation systems. We review an emerging literature on innovation research on China, especially geographical studies of innovation, and argue that China’s national innovation system has become more enterprise-centered since the economic reform started in 1979. This article systematically evaluates the strength and weakness of China’s national innovation system and argues that the new innovation system has a significant regional dimension demonstrated through attempts to establish regional innovation systems. R&Ds are concentrated in high-tech development zones in China. However, these zones are more manufacturing oriented. In other words, there is more development than research. These regional systems, however, play a role in promoting economic competitiveness in their respective regions.

R&D programs launched by the Chinese government. From the paper above.

Relevant studies

Abstract: While global production networks stress the role of lead firms, state entrepreneurialism highlights the role of the state in governing innovation-driven development. However, there is a gap in understanding how the state institution configures and operates to achieve its strategic development goals. This paper fills this gap by examining market means of park management. It shows that Zhangjiang Science City in Shanghai reinvented its development agency – a park development corporation to mobilize finance and govern development. Jiangbei in Nanjing focused on coupling with a multinational lead firm – the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Rather than thinking of innovation governance as state-commanded, we reveal they are market-based operations. At the same time, they extend the state capacities into industrial governance.

Conceptual framework for governing innovation-driven development under state entrepreneurialism. From the paper above.

Kan Zhu, Fangzhu Zhang, and Fulong Wu. 2023. Creating a state strategic innovation space: The development of the Zhangjiang Science City in Shanghai. International Journal of Urban Sciences.

Abstract: The development of science parks has been studied extensively. Understanding these innovation spaces requires us to investigate the development context beyond local knowledge dynamics. This paper examines the Zhangjiang Science City in Shanghai, the first science city endorsed by the central government in China. We find three salient features. First, the Zhangjiang Science City represents China’s latest state innovation strategy to build Shanghai into a National Comprehensive Innovation Centre. Second, the science city is no longer a mono-functional park. It is integrated into Shanghai’s overall urban development. Third, the state’s role is visible, and state actors are involved in implementing this innovation strategy. This study reveals that the science city is a state strategic innovation space.

The multi-scalar strategies and entitlements during the development of the Zhangjiang area. From the paper above.