IN-PERSON Barcelona. Section A

Abstract

Cities are dynamic systems in continuous evolution where innovation acts as a motor to direct urban transformations towards desired paths. Extensive research has focused on understanding the dynamics that foster innovation. These show that technology innovation districts are based on collective learning and organisation processes generated particularly by personal networks. Some regions, like the Swiss Jura Arc, emerge as exemplary cases, based on decentralized production and networked knowledge transmission. Understanding the key elements of this decentralized network system can contribute to identifying spaces of value in its industrial heritage, offering a blueprint for fostering innovation ecosystems in alternative settings. In this study, we analyse la Chaux-de-Fonds and Le Locle, two sites in the Swiss Jura watchmaking industry that showcase the circulation of production models and the transmission of technical knowledge. Employing lenses from innovation geography and urban planning theory, our approach encompasses literature analysis, on-site exploration, and dialogues with local stakeholders. This investigation unveils the multiple factors affecting the generation of regional innovation networks at three geographic levels. At a larger scale, the region benefits from a linking infrastructure acting in three dimensions; political – an international border acting as a seam – , social – institutional networks of trust – and technical – connecting points of the transportation network. At a middle scale, it benefits from a mix of activities – including land use, typologies and institutions- and actors – bringing diverse skills, perspectives and narratives. At the small scale, spaces of interface – unstructured and porous – are key to enabling knowledge exchanges.