Whilst concurring with the new streams of literature in geography that highlight the importance of face-to-face and ‘buzz’ in the globalizing learning economy, we argue that this literature is misleading on three interrelated counts. Firstly, it conflates face-to-face and buzz; secondly, it fails to distinguish between the importance of face-to-face and buzz for industries drawing on different knowledge bases; and, thirdly, these conceptual inadequacies lead to an exaggeration of the importance of cities as sites for creativity and innovation, and hence regional competitiveness. By applying an industrial knowledge base approach, we seek to reconstruct an alternative framework that allows for a systematic differentiation between the importance of face-to-face and buzz for different industries. This provides a framework for developing a more nuanced understanding of the spatial implications of face-to-face communication and buzz for learning and innovation.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AminACohendetP, 2003, “Geographies of knowledge formation in firms”, http://www.druid.dk
2.
AminACohendetP, 2004Architectures of Knowledge: Firms, Capabilities and Communities (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
3.
AminAThriftN, 2002Cities: Reimaging the Urban (Polity Press, Cambridge)
4.
ArchibugiDLundvallB-Å (Eds), 2001The Globalizing Learning Economy (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
5.
AsheimB T, 2000, “Industrial districts: the contributions of Marshall and beyond”, in The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography Eds ClarkG LFeldmanM PGertlerM S (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 413–431
6.
AsheimBGertlerM S, 2005, “Regional innovation systems and the geographical foundations of innovation”, in The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Eds FagerbergJMoweryDNelsonR (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 291–317
7.
AsheimBVangJ, 2004, “What can the regional innovation systems approach offer developing countries?”, Globelics conference paper, http://www.globelics.org
8.
BatheltHMalmbergAMaskellP, 2004, “Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation”Progress in Human Geography2831–56
9.
BecattiniGBellandiMDei OttatiGSforziF, 2003From Industrial Districts to Local Development. An Itinerary of Research (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Glos)
10.
BrinkJMcKelveyMSmithK, 2004, “Conceptualizing and measuring modern biotechnology”, in The Economic Dynamics of Modern Biotechnology Eds McKelveyMRickneALaage-HellmanJ (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Glos) pp 20–42
11.
BrownJ SDuguidP, 1991, “Organizational learning and communities of practice”Organization Science2(1) 40–57
12.
CavesR E, 2000Creative Industries: Contract Between Art and Commerce (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA)
13.
ChristophersonS, 2002, “Why do national labor market practices continue to diverge in the global economy? The missing link of investment rules”Economic Geography781–20
14.
CoenenLMoodyssonJAsheimB T, 2004, “Nodes, networks and proximities: on the knowledge dynamics of the Medicon Valley biotech cluster”European Planning Studies121003–1018
15.
CohendetPLlernaP, 2001, “Routines and the theory of the firm: the role of communities”, Druid conference paper, http://www.druid.dk
16.
CookeP, 2004, “The accelerating evolution of biotechnology clusters”European Planning Studies12915–920
17.
CookeP, 2005, “Rational drug design, the knowledge value chain and bioscience megacentres”Cambridge Journal of Economics29325–341
18.
DeFillippiR JArthurM B, 1998, “Paradox in project-based enterprise: the case of film making”California Management Review42186–191
19.
DimouP, 1994, “The industrial district: a stage of a diffuse industrialization process—the case of Roanne”European Planning Studies223–38
20.
FloridaR, 2002The Rise of the Creative Class and How it's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life (Basic Books, New York)
21.
GertlerMLevitteY, 2005, “Local nodes in global networks: the geography of knowledge flows in biotechnology innovation”Industry and Innovation13487–507
22.
GrabherG, 2001, “Ecologies of creativity: the village, the group, and the heterarchic organisation of the British advertising industry”Environment and Planning A33351–374
23.
GrabherG, 2002, “Cool projects, boring institutions: temporary collaboration in social context”Regional Studies36205–214
24.
GrabherG, 2004, “Temporary architectures of learning: knowledge governance in project ecologies”Organization Studies251491–1514
25.
JohnsonBLorenzELundvallB-Å, 2002, “Why all this fuss about codified and tacit knowledge?”Industrial and Corporate Change11245–262
26.
KaufmannATödtlingF, 2000, “Systems of innovation in traditional industrial regions: the case of Styria in a comparative perspective”Regional Studies3429–40
27.
LaestadiusS, 1998, “Technology level, knowledge formation and industrial competence in paper manufacturing”, in Micro Foundations of Economic Growth Eds EliassonGGreenC (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbour, MI) pp 212–226
28.
LashSUrryJ, 1994Economies of Signs and Space (Sage, London)
29.
LorenzenM, 1999Localised Learning and Community Capabilities—On Organisation of Knowledge in Markets, Firms and Communities—The Case of Danish Furniture Producers (Samfundslittratur, København)
30.
LundinR ASöderholmA, 1995, “A theory of the temporary organization”Scandinavian Journal of Management11437–455
31.
LundvallB-Å, 1992National Innovation Systems: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning (Pinter, London)
MaskellPEskelinenHHannibalssonLMalmbergAVatneE, 1998Competitiveness, Localised Learning and Regional Development (Routledge, London)
42.
MaskellPBatheltHMalmbergA, 2004, “Temporary clusters and knowledge creation: the effects of international trade fairs, conventions and other professional gatherings”, Spaces 2004–04, http://www.uni-marburg.de/geographie/spaces
43.
MoodyssonJCoenenLAsheimB T, 2006, “Explaining socio-spatial patterns of innovation: analytical and synthetic modes of knowledge creation in the life science industry”, paper prepared for the 2006 AAG Annual Meeting, Chicago, 7 – 11 March; copy available from the authors
44.
NonakaITakeuchiT, 1995The Knowledge-creating Company (Oxford University Press, Oxford)
45.
NonakaIToyamaRKonnoN, 2000, “SECI, Ba and leadership: a unified model of dynamic knowledge creation”Long Range Planning335–34
46.
PavittK, 1998, “The social shaping of the national science base”Research Policy27793–805
47.
PolanyiM, 1966/1997The Tacit Dimension (Routledge and Kegan, London)
48.
PorterM E, 2000, “Locations, clusters and company strategy”, in The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography Eds ClarkG LFeldmanM PGertlerM S (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 253–274
49.
PrattA, 2002, “Hot jobs in cool places: the material cultures of new media product spaces: the case of South of the Market, San Francisco”Information, Communication and Society527–50
50.
ScottA J, 1997, “The cultural economy of cities”International Journal of Urban and Regional Research21323–339
51.
ScottA J, 1999, “The cultural economy: geography and the creative field”Media, Culture and Society21807–817
52.
ScottA J, 2002, “A new map of Hollywood: the production and distribution of American motion pictures”Regional Studies36957–975
53.
ScottA J, 2004On Hollywood: The Place, The Industry (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ)
54.
SmithK, 2005, “Measuring innovation”, in The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Eds FagerbergJMoweryDNelsonR (Oxford University Press, Oxford) pp 148–179
55.
StorperM SVenablesA J, 2004, “Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy”Journal of Economic Geography4351–370
56.
SydowJStaberU, 2002, “The institutional embeddedness of project networks: the case of content production in German television”Regional Studies35215–227
57.
ThomkeS H, 2003Experimentation Matters: Unlocking the Potential of New Technologies for Innovation (Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA)
58.
TörnqvistG, 2004, “Creativity in time and space”Geografiska Annaler B86227–243
59.
VangJ, 2005, “Rethinking the spatial organization of creative industries”, WP 10, http://www.circle.lu.se
60.
VangJOverbyM, 2006, “Transnational communities, offshore outsourcing and offshore subsidaries: the case of the Indian IT service industry”, in Asia's Innovation Systems in Transition Eds LundvallB-ÅIntarakumnerdPVangJ (Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, Glos) pp 54–74
61.
VincentiW G, 1990What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History (Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD)
62.
von HippelE, 2005Democratizing Innovation (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
