Innovation districts
For the last 50 years, the landscape of innovation has been dominated by places like Silicon Valley—suburban corridors of spatially isolated corporate campuses, accessible only by car, with little emphasis on the quality of life or on integrating work, housing, and recreation.
Over the past twenty years, a growing number of researchers—both from academia and practice—have witnessed the rise of a more urban geography of innovation: innovation districts.
Innovation districts constitute the ultimate mash up of entrepreneurs and educational institutions, start-ups and schools, mixed-use development and medical innovations, bike-sharing and bankable investments—all connected by transit, powered by clean energy, wired for digital technology, and fueled by caffeine.
Bruce Katz, Julie Wagner,
“The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America”
The Brookings Institution, 2014
Innovation districts are wonderfully complex and different creatures, they are places where …
Deep research and practice for over 15 years has strengthened our understanding of how to strengthen districts. This GIID Framework elevates the important areas of focus.
