Agglomeration economies and the location of new information and communication technology (ICT) firms in the Netherlands

In 2000, the world wide, rapid employment growth in the ICT-sector came to an end. Knowledge-intensive ICT-firms and -sectors in the Netherlands confirmed to this negative development trend as well. The life-cycle of the ICT-sector appears to reach a new phase of development, dominated by saturation of demand and enforced competition. This might affect the localised growth in the ICT-sector as well. According to evolutionary interpretations of agglomeration theory, one expects that new ICT firms start up in knowledge intensive, urban setting in order to gain from localised knowledge spillovers. The recent empirical literature is not unambiguous clear upon the role of intra- and intersectoral (specialisation or sectoral diversity based) agglomeration circumstances that determine firm formation, growth and survival patterns. In later stages of sectoral development, three kinds of spatial developments are expected from the geographical growth literature: (1) a cummulative causation based process of growth within the preliminary urban settings; (2) a dispersion process towards suburban and adjacent rural regions based on physical network and proximity conceptualisations, (3) spatial growth transmittance and firm dispersion based on functional network spatial relationships which are predominantly non-contiguous in character. For the latter category of spatial economic dynamics, the degree of urbanisation, accessibility, regional labour market- and national zoning spatial regimes are assumed to be leading spatial conceptualisations. A favourable macro-economic growth perspective, as present in the Netherlands during our research period, is assumed to speed up (and condition) spatial economic dispersal patterns. To test these spatial growth transmittance and firm dispersal hypotheses we analyse the components of growth (new firm formation, survival and growth in incumbent firms) of a large dataset of in total 36,000 ICT firms in the Netherlands for the period 1996-2000. The papers empirically distinguishes in-situ urban growth, contiguous relations in growth patterns (starting on an initially low, intra-urban spatial scale) and heterogeneous (non-contiguous) spatial research designs. Conclusions are drawn in relation to the recent agglomeration and economic growth literature.

ICT cluster developments in European cities during the 1990's: developoment patterns and policy lessons

The paper is based on a research project called "MUTEIS"(Macro-economic and Urban Trends in Europe's Information Society), a research project designed to get a better understanding of the different patterns of growth of cities and their ICT clusters in 12 urban regions across Europe. The research reveals developments over the 1990's, starting a few years before the dot.com hype, end ending with the first signs of the dot.com crises. The paper is based on the results of fieldwork in two different kind of regions in Finland, Ireland, Sweden and The Netherlands. One region being the national frontrunner in taking up ICT, the other being more remote, but apparently successful in ICT too. While Europe as a whole seems to have been slow in its transition towards the new, digital economy, these smaller European economies actually witnessed a rapid uptake in computer- and internet use and in ICT investment more generally over the second half of the 1990's, accompanied by a remarkable growth and employment performance over those same years. However, behind the aggregate stories of success, sometimes initiated by the private sector, sometimes by public authorities, we can see significant differences in the regional and urban development patterns in the field of ICT- and Internet use. We aim to get a better understanding of these disparities. What are the triggers for growth of an ICT-cluster? How does it affect the growth of the region - and vice versa? Which parameters constitute the critical factors for a region's success - or failure? What do the development roadmaps look like? Are they market-driven or government-driven, or rather based on new forms of partnership? How about the impact of the European and national institutional frameworks? Does policy matter? The quantitative part of the analysis is based on statistical data. It describes the size, composition and growth patterns of the ICT sectors over the 1990's. The paper reveals some interesting findings relative to the size, the location and the national hierarchy of urban regions themselves. This is followed by an in-depth analyses of qualitative differences between the ICT-clusters in the urban regions. This part of the paper is based on available data, existing documents and approx. 20 interviews in each region. The successful regions witnessed a more rapid diffusion of IST goods and services throughout their economies, appeared to be better equipped to exploit some of the new digital growth opportunities, adapted existing "old" economic activities to the new e-business environment and more generally learnt more from the new opportunities to exploit those advantages across the European Union. Furthermore, the national policy makers appeared to be more aware of the increasingly limited degrees of freedom of their national policy actions, liberalising more rapidly their national telecommunications monopolies.

The Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Urban and Regional Planning

This article examines the need and possibilities to develop urban and regional planning practices due to both the emergence of the information/knowledge/network society and especially the impact of the information and communication technology, ICT, on spatial change. The findings are based on the views represented in literature and on the opinions of Finnish urban and regional planners. Current spatial development trends are highlighted by the changing economic basis when knowledge and skilled people are becoming the most important factors in production, and by the new functional and organisational possibilities of activities. As a consequence the traditional ways of running businesses in industry, services and other organisations, as well activities in every day life, will change. Also the prerequisites of locations of different activities will have new determinants. These developments will have diversified spatial impact. Therefore ICT, as the main driving force of the development of the information society, should be taken into account in urban and regional planning as a new aspect. Planners should recognise this new need and challenge. The incorporation of the spatial impact of ICT into planning practices does not occur without purposeful actions by those who are responsible for practical planning and by those who regulate and support planning. There is a need for further information, knowledge and understanding about the spatial impact of ICT and about its consequences on urban and regional development. Planners need updated education and training as well as new planning methods and models based on new spatial and urban theories. Also planning legislation and governmental guidelines should include provisions for the impact of the development of the information society and ICT on planning

ICT-related transformations in Latin American metropolises

The use and application of ICT within and between cities is resulting in significant urban transformations, making cities more connected as well as more complex. A sub-discipline of urban studies - urban ICT studies - has recently emerged to explore, analyse and theorise how the technological advances are transforming urban forms, urban processes and the perceptions of urban life. ICT-related transformations in cities of the developing world, however, have not received enough academic attention until now. This book makes a contribution to the field of urban ICT studies in cities of the South, by exploring the ICT-related transformations in the Latin American urban scene. Based on Gabriel Dupuy’s notion of ‘urbanism of networks’, this explorative research identifies and analyses the recent transformations at three levels: the ICT infrastructure networks, the networks of production and consumption of ICTs in the local urban economy, and the diffusion of digital connectivity in everyday life. The book also presents the situation of digital connectivity in Buenos Aires and Lima, selected as case-studies because singular ICT-related processes are occurring in these two large metropolises. Besides from identifying the urban main trends at the different levels, the results have been also useful to spell out the main trends regarding urban functioning and the urban form, as well as the new problems and new opportunities that the introduction and development of ICTs bring to Latin American cities. The main findings point out that Latin American metropolises have great assets at the infrastructural level as main nodes of the ICT backbones infrastructures. However, there is a profound contradiction between the ICT-related developments occurring in the urban economies, and the social and cultural life of the cities. The low performance of the Latin American metropolises regarding their integration in the global economy and the production of science and technology are in stark contrast with the eagerness of Latin Americans to be connected and to be able to participate as citizens in the network society. These contradiction constitute the largest problem of the future of the metropolises

ICT enabled participatory urban planning and policy development: The UrbanAPI project

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present the effectiveness of participatory information and communication technology (ICT) tools for urban planning, in particular, supporting bottom-up decision-making in urban management and governance. Design/methodology/approach: This work begins with a presentation on the state of the art literature on the existing participatory approaches and their contribution to urban planning and the policymaking process. Furthermore, a case study, namely, the UrbanAPI project, is selected to identify new visualisation and simulation tools applied at different urban scales. These tools are applied in four different European cities - Vienna, Bologna, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Ruse - with the objective to identify the data needs for application development, commonalities in requirements of such participatory tools and their expected impact in policy and decision-making processes. Findings: The case study presents three planning applications: three-dimensional Virtual Reality at neighbourhood scale, Public Motion Explorer at city-wide scale and Urban Growth Simulation at city-region scale. UrbanAPI applications indicate both active and passive participation secured by applying these tools at different urban scales and hence facilitate evidence-based urban planning decision-making. Structured engagement with the city administrations indicates commonalities in user needs and application requirements creating the potential for the development of generic features in these ICT tools which can be applied to many other cities throughout Europe. Originality/value: This paper presents new ICT-enabled participatory urban planning tools at different urban scales to support collaborative decision-making and urban policy development. Various technologies are used for the development of these IT tools and applied to the real environment of four European cities. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Innovative Tokyo

This paper compares and contrasts Tokyo's innovation structure with the industrial districts model and the international hub model in the literature on urban and regional development. The Tokyo model embraces and yet transcends both industrial districts and international hub models. The paper details key elements making up the Tokyo model-organizational knowledge creation, integral and co-location systems of corporate R&D and new product development, test markets, industrial districts and clusters, participative consumer culture, continuous learning from abroad, local government policies, the national system of innovation, and the historical genesis of Tokyo in Japan's political economy. The paper finds that the Tokyo model of innovation will continue to evolve with the changing external environment, but fundamentally retains its main characteristics. The lessons from the Tokyo model is that openness, a diversified industrial base, the continuing development of new industries, and an emphasis on innovation, all contribute to the dynamism of a major metropolitan region.Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,ICT Policy and Strategies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,ICT Policy and Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Innovation

How Does ICT Expansion Drive “Smart” Urban Growth? A Case Study of Nanjing, China

In the context of accelerated urbanization, socioeconomic development, and population growth, as well as the rapid advancement of information and communication technology (ICT), urban land is rapidly expanding worldwide. Unplanned urban growth has led to the low utilization efficiency of land resources. Also, ecological and agricultural lands are continuously sacrificed for urban construction, which in the long-term may severely impact the health of citizens in cities. A thorough understanding of the mechanisms and driving forces of a city’s urban land use changes, including the influence of ICT development, is therefore crucial to the formation of optimal and feasible urban planning in the new era. Taking Nanjing as a study case, this article attempts to explore the measurable “smart” driving indicators of urban land use change and analyze the tapestry of the relationship between these and urban land use change. Different from the traditional linear regression analysis method of driving force of urban land use change, this study focuses on the interaction relationship and the underlying causal relationship among various “smart” driving factors, so it adopts a fuzzy statistical method, namely the grey relational analysis (GRA). Through the integration of literature research and known effective data, five categories of “smart” indicators have been taken as the primary driving factors: industry and economy, transportation, humanities and science, ICT systems, and environmental management. The results show that these indicators have different impacts on driving urban built-up land growth. Accordingly, optimization possibilities and recommendations for development strategies are proposed to realize a “smarter” development direction in Nanjing. This article confirms the effectiveness of GRA for studies on the driving mechanisms of urban land use change and provides a theoretical basis for the development goals of a smart city

Innovation and communication technologies + Problem based learning: a new approach for teaching architecture

This article presents the results obtained during its first year of application in the educational innovation project called “New frameworks of teaching: ICT applied to problem based learning in technical bachelors” (PIE 15-166) developed at the School of Architecture in the University of Malaga. This has been focused on the development of educational strategies based on exploiting the potential of ICT, taking as a framework the ABP. Its application on subjects from different areas of knowledge (architectural composition, urban planning, projects and architectural constructions) has allowed assessing the adaptability of this methodology depending on the content. Among the obtained results can be highlighted the improvement in cross curricular coordination between subjects from different fields of studies, providing different ways of synchronous and asynchronous communication between students and teachers to generate a greater interaction between all the involved subjects; increasing in addition the interest and an improvement of the results.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tec

Development of GIS in urban planning agencies in Serbia – experiences of town Planning Institute of Belgrade

Transition reforming processes in Serbia during past two years created prosperous environment for very complex activities of numerous aid agencies. Owing to some of them the knowledge level about modern concepts and approaches in the field of strategic and urban development is significantly raised in big cities. Especially important was the impact and the effect of building governmental capacities action. During the last year on the highest governmental levels and in some prosperous local governments consciousness of ICT support importance in contemporary urban development management process is higher than ever. Now the problem is lack of capabilities for defining of comprehensive and coordinated action plan, which will initiate the development of primary ICT tools on a city level. On the other hand a large number of local planning agencies started with their own reorganization trying to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and most often they recognized an ICT support as a right way to do it. In many cases local GIS is initiated and basically performed by the planning agency without of local government initial support, but soon after had a acceleration role in further institutional ICT development. In a first place, this paper will provide the oversight of ICT development levels in municipalities of Serbia. Interesting is that public institution ICT development is more rapid in some smaller municipalities than in Belgrade. Therefore, the paper will be more concentrated on presenting the process and problems of ICT development of City of Belgrade public institutions and governmental levels. Under the very difficult conditions Town Planning Institute as a major planning agency in Belgrade is making the big effort to increase work efficiency and effectiveness by using ICT tools. Of course, on an agency organization level the process of ICT implementation is suppressed with new problems. This paper will at the end present the overview of 6 month pilot project of initializing and conceptualizing the IS of planning agency and the results that ICT team succeeded to achieve. As a conclusion the action program for 2004. will be presented

A Demand-Side Approach for Linking the Past to Future Urban-Rural Development

Is economy-led urbanization the only answer to urban planning? By 2050, about 70% of the world population will live in urban areas, intensified by rapid urbanization in developing countries. A new urban development framework is critically relevant to investigating urban living’s emerging complexity for advancing human-social-economic-environmental sustainability. The multi-disciplinary study explores a roadmap for solving industrialization’s adverse effects to inform future resilient development in developing countries. The classical Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (MHN) and some scholars have stated that human physiological needs would be prioritized and fulfilled by developing countries, and psychological needs would be satisfied and desired by developed countries after fulfilling physiological needs level. Our study argued that transit-oriented-development (TOD) and ICT could simultaneously fulfill some essential physio-psychological needs with digital-ruralism. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted to test the indicator-based MHN theory developed by literature, urban quality of life (Uqol) evaluation between the developing and developed countries, and backed by digital-ruralism success in developing China. The Uqol evaluation identifies the developing countries’ subjective well-being demand as the health, mobility, governance, environment, social, economy, human capital, technology-ICT, smart living, and lifestyle, which are used to transform the classical MHN model to the indicator-based MHN model. The SEM subsequently illustrates that the observed well-being indicators are positively correlated to the TOD and ICT, defined by the proposed urban-ruralism development framework. The study contributes to an innovative approach to reconnect the classical MHN theory to contemporary sustainable urban planning while narrowing the socioeconomic-environmental gap between the developed (urban) and developing (rural) domains, which encourages a paradigm shift for future resilient urban development in the developing countries