Science and Technology Parks: laboratories of innovation for urban development - an approach from Brazil (original) (raw)
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Towards smart urban developments?: Innovation habitats and tech parks in Brazil
2020
In line with the UN's global agenda of sustainable development goals (SDG), to achieve a positive transformation towards the sustainability of cities, urban planning practitioners should draw on a series of action plans aimed at combining smart infrastructure to high-density and mixed-use developments. In Brazil, these endeavors are likely to be fostered from the Innovation Habitats-such as tech-parks, coworking spaces, incubators, living labs, etc.understood as spaces conducive for innovations to occur, as they are the locus of information and knowledge sharing, particularly regarding cutting-edge technology development. However, there is limited knowledge on the extent to which innovation habitats cope with smart urban planning. Therefore, this paper intends to verify this issue through an analysis of the 43 tech parks currently in operation in the country and their integration into respective urban contexts. The results account for three fronts from which it is possible to reflect on the extent to which these parks play a prominent role in promoting a smarter and more sustainable urban development: (i) their legal personality; (ii) their rapport with the city region; and (iii) their relation with the surrounding neighborhoods.
Public Policy for Innovation and Urban Environment
Technological innovation has become central to the development of nations. The OECD countries and developing countries have created systems to encourage innovation and dissemination of technological innovation. In macroeconomic terms, companies already recognize the important role of innovative activities in the maintenance and increase of their participation in national and global markets. In discussions on the environment, the issue becomes important because these innovations create conditions as well, for improving the life quality of human beings in urban environments, but also involve risks and sometimes bring irreversible consequences to life on the planet. In this context, the objective of this paper is to explore the relationship between innovation and the urban environment and to indicate the need for public policies of technological innovation that converge to solve the problems and the environmental challenges of the cities in general. As stated Andrade (2003, p. 95), the innovation does not have its own ontology, but is open to contingency and indeterminacy of social practices. Thus, it is for public policy makers indicate the paths and possibilities, improving the levels and quality of production and also minimize environmental problems related to such improvement. Methodologically, this study begins with a discussion of the different approaches to eco-Innovation in the context of the sustainable cities and green buildings. It is followed by the technological innovation policies and their relationship to sustainability and concludes with a Brazilian case study that is on the application of eco-innovations to help the city of Rio de Janeiro to organize the Olympics Games in Brazil. Overall, it is concluded that environmental innovations are essential for the urban environment sustainability. However, it is necessary to enhance the governmental process that uses the environmental innovations as a public policy tool.
Proceedings of the 30th World Conference on Science and Technology Parks, International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation - IASP, Recife, Brazil, 2013
The paper presents the main outcomes from a virtual workshop regarding new models for Science and Technology Parks – STPs, in special in South America, in response to challenges stemming from trends such as the integration of STPs to the urban tissue and the fact that cities and regions are becoming relevant Innovation Habitats by their own. This virtual workshop, based on Internet, gathered professionals involved with the development of STPs and other Innovation Habitats in South America, and sought to answer questions proposed by the 30th IASP World Conference on STPs’ agenda. The topics presented in paper are: (a) Conceptual framework for Innovation Habitats; (b) Evolution of STPs in response to the above mentioned challenges; and (c) Strategies regarding the development of STPs, in special in South America.
Innovation capacity for sustainable development in Latin America: a Brazilian technology park case
Latin American J. of Management for Sustainable Development, 2018
This study aims to investigate the innovation capacity of incubated companies in the Sorocaba Technology Park (STP) and its impact on the sustainable development of Sorocaba city and metropolitan region. Sorocaba stands out as a metropolitan region in Southeast Brazil (Latin America). Sustainability and innovation have been widely discussed in academic studies. Even though the themes were studied under different approaches, it is possible to notice an intersection between them. Such intersection will be more thoroughly explored in this study. The research makes a quantitative descriptive analysis and uses the survey method. The analysis tool used is the innovation radar. The results indicate that the innovation capacity for sustainable development of the STP incubated companies participating in this study is still under development-companies were classified as occasionally innovative and there is a link between innovation capacity and the potential of the enterprises to generate eco-innovations to promote sustainable development.
Revista de administração pública, 2020
Cities have been conceived as one of the main loci for promoting changes in development patterns, and building solutions that can address the complexity of contemporary public problems. In this context, the study of social innovation ecosystems (SIE) and their eff ects on cities is a relevant theme, considering the socio-environmental crisis diversity and extent of the urban problems experienced. Th e research seeks to understand to what extent the SIE responds to problems experienced in the public arenas of the city. It proposes a pragmatist-inspired theoreticalmethodological approach to cartography and analysis of SIE that is being applied in the city of Florianópolis. Th rough the co-construction of a collaborative digital platform, the research observes actors, their interactions and practices, to understand "whether" and "how" this network favors "public inquiry" or democratic experimentation and/or promotes more sustainable development dynamics in the city.
2014
staged process that starts with (basic) scientific research and ends with commercialization by companies. Innovation processes are much more complex and diverse, influenced by multiple actors that interact in networks with feedback loops, and involving many types of knowledge beyond scientific knowledge. Urban innovation systems are nested in innovation systems on other spatial levelsregional, national, international. Studies on urban innovation systems seek to explain how innovations emerge in an urban context, why urban regions differ in their innovative performance, and also address questions on the governance and management of such systems. Studies in this field draw from a variety of disciplines including economic geography, urban and regional economics, political sciences, innovation studies, social sciences, and urban planning. General Overviews A good starting point for understanding urban innovation systems is the seminal book Hall 1998, which elaborates how, throughout human history, cities have played a key role as innovation breed-beds, magnets for talent where talented entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, cultural innovators, and capitalists mutually reinforce each other. Another classic is Jacobs 1969, which provides a powerful argument linking diversity (cultural, economic, and architectural) to innovation and prosperity. Jacobs's systemic view led her to reject massive grand urban designs planned to "modernize" cities by bulldozing away old neighborhoods and replacing them with modern blocks and broad highways. The premodern urban neighborhoods that she cherished are now the main cradles of creative and innovative activity in many cities. In a more precise conceptualization, Cooke, et al. 1997 specifies the concepts of "region," "innovation," and "system," and identifies the organizational and institutional dimensions of local innovation systems. Fagerberg, et al. 2006 dedicates several chapters to the systemic nature of innovation and the role of regions and cities. A systemic approach to innovations can also be found in the literature on creative cities like Landry 2012 and Scott 2006. Simmie 2001 explores the link between geography and innovation, and presents in-depth case studies on innovation in Stuttgart, Milan, Paris, London, and Amsterdam, elaborating on how urban assets contribute to innovation. Van Winden, et al. 2014 provides a broad and recent overview on the literature of urban innovation systems, and also addresses the question to what extent such systems can be managed. In the early 21st century, the term "innovation ecosystem" has become more popular than urban innovation system; Oh, et al. 2016 is critical of using this term, rejecting it as not yet a clearly defined concept, much less a theory. Moreover, in the authors' view the idea carries pitfalls, notably its overemphasis on market forces, and its flawed analogy to natural ecosystems.
International Journal of Entrepreneurship, 2020
The present research has as objective to analyse the mechanisms of articulation, as well as the factors that promote and constitute the innovation habitats in the cities of Piracicaba and Sao Carlos. For both, it will be necessary to investigate the articulations promoted by the actors of the propeller triple helix extended-GUCRN (Government, Universities, Companies, Research Institutes and Non-governmental organization). As the object of analysis lies in the problematization: the extent to which the poles and the habitats of innovation promote the development of economic, social and technological areas studied? And which structural factors are necessary for the development of the hubs and habitats of innovation? The methodological approach of the research will be anchored in the vision of childhood. The field research will be conducted through semi-structured interviews. The results of the research point to the argument of the configuration of Sao Carlos and Piracicaba as the centr...
Sustainability
Unarguably, smart, sustainable, and knowledge-based development is critical for securing a livable future for our rapidly urbanizing world. The aim of this study is to generate insights into determining effective and efficient strategies to increase sustainability and innovation capabilities of cities to achieve long-term desired urban outcomes. This paper places the city of Florianópolis (Brazil) under the smart, sustainable, and knowledge-based urban development microscope. The methodological approach of the study involves a qualitative analysis through surveys (100 submitted forms, 55 responses received) and interviews (12) with key experts and stakeholders from Florianópolis. The findings of the study reveal that Florianópolis’ innovation ecosystem has high potential to thrive, but the city still has structural issues to deal with first, related to the gap between the potential to grow, and acknowledgement from key actors of the city to support the overall territory development ...
Urbanization, Innovation and Governance: The Quest for Sustainable Development
2020
The article discusses the interrelated issues of urbanisation, innovation and governance in the quest for sustainable development. Given present trends in urbanisation, cities are playing an ever more important role in the world’s development and globalisation process. Cities must innovate to achieve sustainability. The technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution enable cities to innovate in multiple ways. Innovation turns ideas into value and generates new products, services and processes, driven by multiple stakeholders. Likewise, there is a focus on innovative means for governance. Given divergences between cities, regions and countries, strategies for urban and regional development tend to differ, affecting the quality of life of residents and the prospects for attaining the SDGs. Cities invest increasingly in new technologies to improve infrastructure delivery, thereby increasing GDP growth. Economic values must however be balanced with societal values. The use of emerging...
Science, Technology and Innovation (ST&I) has the power to disrupt the old and consolidated political, social, cultural and economic paradigms of society. For effective ST&I actions to take place in a society, the participation of the business sector, ST&I institutions and, above all, the constituted public administration is necessary. This experience report aims to describe the process used to create and implement the ST&I municipal system. A case study was carried out in Campina Grande, one of the largest and most developed municipalities in the interior of Brazil. The results of the study indicate that the integration between the public administration, business and academic sector as well as the effective participation of the ST&I institutions was essential for the creation of a legal ordering for ST&I that would meet the specificities of the municipality in question.