THE CONCEPT OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL IN DEVELOPMENT SYSTEMS

The human capital and structural capital constitute the primary assets of every organisation and more and more every territory: on urban, local, regional, national and global levels. Restructuring technique, technology, organisation of production and work (means of production, subjects of work, power factors and economic factors) necessitates great knowledge, competence and skills, as well as the right organisational culture and philosophy. These factors constitute the basic elements of human capital. Mutual dependency of these factors results in the need of proper management of planning, organisation and motivation as well as of controlling human capital. Business practice confirms the need of developing basic organisational features that would result in creating a unique corporate image. It turns out that an individual character of a company facilitates its winning competitive advantage. Shaping the basic variables in corporate resources enables one to identify technical, organisational, economic and social features. Creating an individual character of a company on the basis of primary material resources rarely brings the desired effect. The material character of technical, organisational and economic resources is a feature that may be easily copied by competitors. Among the distinguished features, only human capital may thus decide on the individual character of a company.human capital, intellectual capital

The Practice Of City Planning And Design In The Gulf Region: The Case Of Abu Dhabi, Doha And Manama

This research study explores the Arabian Gulf region’s practice of city planning and design in response to the active forces of globalization. The focused scope of analysis is justified by the commonalities that unite the Arabian Gulf region, among them is the active response to globalization and the rapid urbanization process. Following the coverage of the regional context, an investigation of the city planning and design is presented in the study as a case study approach. Three coastal Arabian Gulf capitals -Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama- are selected as primary units of analysis, investigating their urban evolution, the recent planning practice and urban development vision. The aim of the research study is to establish a theoretical connection between Gulf cities relying on their commonalities. The hypothesis assumes globalization to create a common urban planning practice based on (A) geopolitical facts, (B) historical evolution of urbanism and (C) the recent urban development trends that shape Gulf capital cities. The findings reveal that the urban practice in the Gulf region has been constantly altered in response to global challenges. New trends of megaprojects and international planning are dominating the urban development and growth of Gulf capital cities, where the knowledge of international expertise is flowing into the local planning practice. Therefore, the future of the urbanism is expected to focus on comprehensiveness, master-planning in the national scale, as well as establishing a regional interconnection as a strategic development vision unifying the whole Arabian Gulf region

Revisiting the Old Industrial Region: Adaptation and Adjustment in an Integrating Europe

The position of old industrial regions (OIRs) has been neglected in recent regional development research, partly as a result of dominant discourses concerned with concepts such as the knowledge economy, learning regions and the new regionalism. One outcome of this conceptual overload is that empirical research has typically been confined to all too familiar case studies of regional success that tell a rather partial story. Yet the extension of the European integration project eastwards alongside growing competition from the urban and regional ‘hotspots’ of the global south prompts a series of largely unconsidered questions about the ability of OIRs to achieve sustainable economic development and social cohesion in the years ahead. Lacking the capital, technological and labour assets of more dynamic cities and regions, and with the historic legacy of deindustrialisation and the decline of traditional sectors, OIRs face some important dilemmas of adjustment and adaptation. In this paper our purpose is to engage with these issues through some preliminary empirical research into the recent fortunes of OIRs in Western Europe’s largest economies: France, Germany, Spain and the UK. Drawing upon material from the Eurostat database, our results hint at interesting patterns of divergence in the performance of OIRs in terms of processes of economic restructuring, employment change and social cohesion. In particular some important variations emerge in the trajectory of regions within different national contexts. Drawing upon recent thinking relating to commodity chains and global production networks, our results lead us to pose a series of questions that relate to the way regions are being repositioned within broader political and economic networks as part of unfolding processes of uneven development and changing spatial divisions of labour

The hubs of transformation dictated by the innovation wave: Boston as a case study

Cities have become the nodes of global networks, standing at the intersection points of the flows of capital, goods, workers, businesses and travellers, making them the spots where innovation, progress and economic development occur. Design emerges as an essential feature in this process that this manuscript defines “laboratorisation of cities”, a cutting-edge urban development paradigm that emphasises cities as dynamic laboratories for innovation and experimentation. This paper then aims at exploring the spatial hubs of transformation within the knowledge economy, providing an overview of the current models of innovation spaces, before focusing on the innovation district of one of the cities that are riding the innovation wave, namely, Boston, USA. Information will be gathered from observations, exploratory interviews to key stakeholders, and on-desk data. The study has significant implications, spanning from informing global urban development strategies to impacting regional economic planning and national policies. It provides valuable insights into how design, innovation, and urban development are interconnected, potentially reshaping how cities and regions approach their growth in a knowledge-driven era. Useful lessons are drawn from the analysed case study, allowing to define precious tools for policymakers, a forward-looking perspective on the future of laboratorisation of cities and the evolving role of design, providing a roadmap for cities aiming to position themselves as global innovation hubs

Knowledge economy as an initiator of sustainable urbanism in emerging metropolises : the case of Doha, Qatar

This paper is a comprehensive coverage of a research project of the National Priority Research Program of the Qatar National Research Fund, entitled ‘Investigating the Qualities of the Urban Environment in Emerging Regional Metropolises’, and carried out between 2011 and 2014 through the joint collaboration of Qatar University and Technische Universität München. Through the shift of global economic forces Gulf cities, such as Qatar’s capital Doha, are developed as central hubs between developed economies in the West and the rising economies of Asia. In the context of international competition between cities new challenges are emerging where cities need to find ways to sustain and extend their position in a globalizing world. Therefore the research process placed emphasis on the complex interrelationship of knowledge economies and spatial developments in the Gulf region. The work is premised on the assumption that non-physical economic aspects and the qualities of the urban environment are interdependent. It analyses the qualities of the urban environment of Doha as an important regional metropolis through a comprehensive investigation utilizing a set of interdisciplinary research methods that include analysis of historic documents, Delphi interview series, company network analysis, GIS analysis, cognitive mapping, behavioural studies, media surveys, attitude surveys, and space syntax analysis. The outcomes promise important results regarding urban qualities in the city of Doha culminating into various recommendations aimed at potential beneficiaries including public sector organizations, private sector and real estate development companies, and academia

Universities, regional policy and the knowledge economy

This article focuses on the spatial clustering dimension of new information and communications technology (ICT)-driven economic activity based on knowledge industries and especially the tacit knowledge synergies to be achieved through networking in geographical space. The article first details the new knowledge economy, reviewing claims made for its distinctiveness and its role in raising levels of productivity before turning to a brief study of the clustering effects of new ICT-driven economic activity and the development of policies designed to enhance regional development. The remainder of the article details a case study – Univercities: the Manchester Knowledge Capital Initiative – in the North-west of the United Kingdom based on recent research into the attempt to create a ‘Knowledge Capital’ within the Greater Manchester conurbation, which is designed to position Manchester at the heart of the knowledge economy

'Gatekeepers' of Islamic financial circuits : analysing urban geographies of the global Shari'a elite

This paper analyses the importance of 'Shari'a scholars' in the Islamic Financial Services (IFS) sector, which has been a growing global practice since the 1970s. Based on Shari'a Law, IFS firms provide banking, finance and insurance respecting faith-based prohibitions on interest, speculation and risk taking. Although IFS firms operate across a variety of scales and involve a range of actors, this paper focuses on the transnational capacities of Shari'a experts employed by IFS firms. These scholars use their extensive knowledge of Shari'a Law to assess the 'Islamic' character of a firm's operations, and assist the development of Shari'a-compliant products. As they embody necessary entry-points into Islamic circuits of knowledge and authority, members of what we dub the 'global Shari'a elite' can be regarded as 'gatekeepers' of Islamic financial circuits. Drawing on a comprehensive data source we present a geographical analysis of Shari'a board membership, nationality and educational background of 253 Shari'a scholars. The results show that the global Shari'a elite connects a limited number of IFS hubs (e. g. Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait City, Manama, and London) to knowledge and authority networks falling outside 'mainstream' business and service spheres

Probing the position of the Jakarta metropolitan area in global inter-urban networks through the lens of manufacturing firms

This paper presents an analysis of the position of the Jakarta metropolitan area (JMA) in global inter-urban networks. Our starting point is our aim to provide a more nuanced understanding of the JMA’s connectivity in world city networks (WCNs). To this end, we steer clear of top-down approaches, which tend to analyze cities in singular taxonomies of global prominence, and instead propose a framework that is attuned to the JMA’s contexts to provide an alternative and complementary reading of how the JMA has been inserted into the WCN. To this end, by drawing on the interlocking network model, which helps to proxy inter-urban networks based on the multi-locational operations of manufacturing firms, we examine the JMA’s network positionality on the global and national scales. The results provide evidence of the JMA’s global inter-city relations being strongly geared toward East Asian cities. In addition, the results suggest that the JMA cannot be detached from its national geography, as evidenced by its strong connections with cities located on the island of Java

Economic Impacts of GO TO 2040

The economy of the Chicago metropolitan region has reached a critical juncture. On the one hand, Chicagoland is currently a highly successful global region with extraordinary assets and outputs. The region successfully made the transition in the 1980s and 1990s from a primarily industrial to a knowledge and service-based economy. It has high levels of human capital, with strong concentrations in information-sector industries and knowledge-based functional clusters -- a headquarters region with thriving finance, business services, law, IT and emerging bioscience, advanced manufacturing and similar high-growth sectors. It combines multiple deep areas of specialization, providing the resilience that comes from economic diversity. It is home to the abundant quality-of-life amenities that flow from business and household prosperity.On the other hand, beneath this static portrait of our strengths lie disturbing signs of a potential loss of momentum. Trends in the last decade reveal slowing rates, compared to other regions, of growth in productivity and gross metropolitan product. Trends in innovation, new firm creation and employment are comparably lagging. The region also faces emerging challenges with respect to both spatial efficiency and governance.In this context, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) has just released GO TO 2040, its comprehensive, long-term plan for the Chicago metropolitan area. The plan contains recommendations aimed at shaping a wide range of regional characteristics over the next 30 years, during which time more than 2 million new residents are anticipated. Among the chief goals of GO TO 2040 are increasing the region's long-term economic prosperity, sustaining a high quality of life for the region's current and future residents and making the most effective use of public investments. To this end, the plan addresses a broad scope of interrelated issues which, in aggregate, will shape the long-term physical, economic, institutional and social character of the region.This report by RW Ventures, LLC is an independent assessment of the plan from a purely economic perspective, addressing the impacts that GO TO 2040's recommendations can be expected to have on the future of the regional economy. The assessment begins by describing how implementation of GO TO 2040's recommendations would affect the economic landscape of the region; reviews economic research and practice about the factors that influence regional economic growth; and, given both of these, articulates and illustrates the likely economic impacts that will flow from implementation of the plan. In the course of reviewing the economic implications of the plan, the assessment also provides recommendations of further steps, as the plan is implemented, for increasing its positive impact on economic growth