Bioeconomy Innovation Networks in Urban Regions: The Case of Stuttgart

Bioeconomy Innovation Networks in Urban Regions: The Case of Stuttgart

For a successful transformation towards a sustainable bioeconomy, cooperative knowledge creation leading to innovations through research at the company and academic level are important. Urban regions are the centre of economic and research activities. The example of the region of Stuttgart, which ai...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Land (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 935
Main Authors: Stöber, Lea F., Boesino, Marius, Pyka, Andreas, Schuenemann, Franziska
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-04-2023
Subjects:
Bioeconomics
Biotechnology
Collaboration
Colleges & universities
Economic aspects
Economic research
Funding
industrialized regions
innovation networks
Innovations
Knowledge
Knowledge-based systems
Manufacturing industry
Metropolitan areas
Network analysis
R&D
Regions
Research & development
research collaboration
Research facilities
Rural areas
Social network analysis
Social networks
Social organization
sustainable bioeconomy
Technological innovations
Transformations
Urban areas
urban bioeconomy
Urban farming
Value creation
Germany
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Summary:For a successful transformation towards a sustainable bioeconomy, cooperative knowledge creation leading to innovations through research at the company and academic level are important. Urban regions are the centre of economic and research activities. The example of the region of Stuttgart, which aims to complement its mature industrial structure with new opportunities related to the knowledge-based bioeconomy, is an interesting case for the application of social network analysis to shed light on the dynamics of innovation networks to support the transformation of urban regions. As with smaller spatial levels of observation connectivity in network decreases, we find a scale-free network structure for the supra-regional network and a star-like network structure for the regional network, with two universities and one transfer-oriented research institutes at the core. While research collaborations beyond regional borders and across different industries foster knowledge co-creation, the central actors can be recognized as gatekeepers who dominantly influence knowledge flows. To potentially strengthen the resilience of the network, policy and industry associations serving as network facilitators can foster collaboration between periphery actors. The case of the Stuttgart region impressively illustrates the opportunities of the knowledge-based bioeconomy for urban regions and the complementary role traditional manufacturing sectors can take in the transformation towards higher degrees of sustainability.
ISSN:2073-445X
2073-445X
DOI:10.3390/land12040935