Abstract

The smart specialization literature has hardly addressed the role of geography in promoting novel approaches to local and regional innovation processes beyond classic clustering approaches. Based on empirical observations from five sparsely populated regions, the present article proposes original insights that contribute to the theoretical debate on the place-based nature and spatial dimension of entrepreneurial discovery, the key functional mechanism behind smart specialization. First, it advocates the added-value of integrating strategic spatial planning approaches at different stages of smart specialization implementation, from design to operationalization. Second, it suggests that more effective ways of creating domains through shared knowledge bases of existing sectors should aim at promoting collaboration between second-tier economic agents. Finally, the specificity of the territorial preconditions found in sparsely populated regions brings to the fore new forms of proximity relations based on institutional, cognitive and organizational proximity rather than on geographical clustering.

Keywords

Smart specialization; sparsely populated regions; resource economies; spatial planning

Published in

European Planning Studies
2017, Volume: 25, number: 8, pages: 1316-1333

SLU Authors

• Dubois, Alexandre

  • Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Human Geography


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2017.1320355

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/84226