Local Innovation in Emerging Creative Ecosystems

Abstract

Globally, most future economic growth will occur in regional cities, but infrastructure and employment are often inadequate. In short, default development approaches may focus on shaping the urban form (infrastructure/housing) at the expense of the institutional and intangible factors driving jobs growth, such as creativity, innovation and sector productivity. Effective local partnerships can help counter the limitations of default approaches to urbanism. Analyses reveal that the wedding wear sector in Izmir, Turkey, in particular is in many respects unique, with great potential as an emerging cluster due to its inherited knowledge and knowhow, yet still lacks in design considerations, and is in desperate need of promotion, advertisement and cost-effective returns. Therefore, the main lesson is that enabling interactions between the local government, NGOs and firms both inside and outside the cluster can promote smart development. At policy level, establishment of an incubator within a four-leg structure is an effective local development partnership. In a practical Turkish context, Chapter 5 investigates the institutional and partnership management arrangements to facilitate such urban innovation hubs for creative ecosystems. © 2018 selection and editorial matter, Simon Huston; individual chapters, the contributors.