Surabhi Pancholi

Place Making for Knowledge Generation and Innovation: Planning and Branding Brisbane's Knowledge Community Precincts

Abstract Knowledge generation and innovation have been a priority for global city administrators particularly during the last couple of decades. This is mainly due to the growing consensus in identifying knowledge-based urban development as a panacea for burgeoning economic problems. Place making has become a critical element for success in knowledge-based urban development as planning and branding places is claimed to be an effective marketing tool for attracting investment and talent. This paper aims to investigate the role of planning and branding in place making by assessing the effectiveness of planning and branding strategies in the development of knowledge and innovation milieus. The methodology of the study comprises reviewing the literature thoroughly, developing an analysis framework, and using this framework to analyze Brisbanes knowledge community precincts—namely Boggo Road Knowledge Precinct, Kelvin Grove Urban Knowledge Village, and Sippy Downs Knowledge Town. The analysis findings generate invaluable insights into Brisbanes journey in place making for knowledge and innovation milieus and communities. The results suggest as much as good planning, branding strategies, and good practice, the requirements of external and internal conditions also need to be met for successful place making in knowledge community precincts.

Governance that matters: Identifying place-making challenges of Melbourne’s Monash Employment Cluster

Purpose: The study scrutinises the prominence of place making as a strategy in the development of knowledge and innovation spaces with a specific focus on distinguishing the role of governance. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a multidimensional conceptual framework of place making to investigate a knowledge and innovation space case through a qualitative analysis approach involving a range of key stakeholders. Findings: The study finds that governance is critical in facilitating place making in knowledge and innovation spaces, and place making practices in these locations benefit from adopting a multidimensional approach. Originality/value: The study expands our knowledge on the role of governance in place making that helps achieve desired knowledge and innovation space outcomes.

Knowledge-based development dynamics in less favoured regions: insights from Australian and Icelandic university towns

ABSTRACT Knowledge-based development (KBD) is a widely practiced policy and is signified as an effective development approach particularly for the metropolitan city-region context. Even though, increasing recognition of this policy resulted in some initiatives in less favoured regions – such as regional university towns – its appropriateness for this context has not been investigated adequately. This paper explores the concept thoroughly in regional university town settings from the lens of the triple-helix model – a critical element for success in KBD. The study aims to broaden our understanding on the challenges of implementing a successful triple-helix model in regional university towns by providing evidence from different country contexts – Australia and Iceland. The methodology of the comparative case investigation incorporates policy and stakeholder perception analyses. Results reveal the journey of the investigated cases, their limited accomplishments and failure factors. Findings shed light on the developmental challenges of regional university towns by highlighting critical issues relating to suitability, appropriate implementation and effectiveness of the KBD policy.

Knowledge city research and practice under the microscope: a review of empirical findings

The changing and challenging conditions of the 21st century have been significantly impacting our economy, society and built and natural environments. Today generation of knowledge, mostly in the form of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and arts, is seen as a panacea for the adaptation to changes and management of challenges. Making space and place that concentrate on knowledge generation, exchange, and marketing has become a priority for many nations. Consequently, the concept of knowledge city is coined at the beginning of the century and since then it is widely researched and practiced. This paper aims to scrutinise and provide a clear understanding on the evolution of knowledge city research and practice. As the methodological approach, the study employs systematic review of the knowledge city empirical studies in peer-reviewed journals. The findings shed light on the emerging patterns, identify research and practice gaps, and point out research directions to advance the field.

Attributes of successful place-making in knowledge and innovation spaces: evidence from Brisbane’s Diamantina knowledge precinct

ABSTRACT Place-making in knowledge and innovation spaces is a challenging task for planners and designers due to the lack of competent conceptual frameworks and design guidelines. To address this issue, this study adopts a qualitative methodological approach to carry out an empirical investigation in a case study from Brisbane, Australia, i.e., Diamantina Knowledge Precinct. This investigation is guided by a conceptual framework derived from the interdisciplinary literature review. Interviews, supported with various data sources, are conducted among a range of key stakeholders. The findings reveal the key design attributes and considerations for successful place-making in knowledge and innovation spaces.