Theories on Innovative and
Sustainable Regions
GEO2-7012 Period 1 2025 – 2026
What are innovative regions, what are sustainable
regions?
Innovative regions are characterized by a pronounced ability to
generate and adopt new ideas, technologies, products, and processes.
This capacity is considered the main driver of long-term economic
dynamism and competitiveness.
Sustainable region is defined by its ability to maintain and enhance
economic, social, and environmental well-being over time. Sustainability
also includes a region's economic resilience to shocks and its capacity
to undergo structural transformations, such as a green transition.
What is regional convergence/divergence?
Regional convergence and divergence are concepts that describe the
spatial disparity in economic development.
Regional convergence means that the income and productivity gaps
between richer and poorer regions are narrowing. Poorer regions grow
faster than richer ones, leading them to converge over time.
Regional divergence is the opposite: the gap between richer and poorer
regions widens because richer regions experience faster growth.
What is innovation?
Innovation is not just the invention of something new; it is the commercial
or practical application of an invention or a new idea.
Innovation rarely happens in isolation. It is an interactive, often non-linear
process that emerges from the interactions between different actors
within an ecosystem (regional innovation system).
The four types (Schumpeter): Innovation includes:
1. Introducing a new product or service.
2. Introducing a new production method.
, 3. Opening a new market.
4. Developing a new source of supply for raw materials.
5. Implementing a new way of organizing an industry (a new
organizational structure).
Innovation can be radical (a completely new technology, like the internet)
or incremental (small improvements to an existing product or process).
Why is knowledge concentrated in space?
Knowledge is concentrated primarily because of tacit knowledge. This is
uncodified, practical, skill-based knowledge that is embedded in people
and routines. It is "know-how" rather than "know-what." Tacit knowledge
can only be effectively transferred through face-to-face interaction,
observation, and repeated collaboration. Therefore, actors who need to
share this complex, sticky knowledge must be located close to each other,
leading to a geographical concentration of expertise.
Explicit Knowledge is codified knowledge. It is easy to write down,
transmit, and digitize. This type of knowledge travels well globally via
the internet.
Barriers to knowledge diffusion:
- Institutional distance; Knowledge transfer is impeded when the
receiving region has different formal or informal institutions.
- Cognitive distance; the recipient's knowledge base is too
different from the sender's, they simply cannot understand or
absorb the new information.
- Technological Lock-ins; regions with established technological
systems are often unwilling or unable to adopt radically different
knowledge that challenges their status quo.
What is regional resilience?
Regional resilience is the capacity of a regional economy to withstand,
recover from, and adapt to major disruptions or crises, known as shocks.
There can be many shocks. Such as, sudden and long-term. Like COVID,
financial crisis, climate change, Brexit, Ukraine war, energy crises.
Resilience to a shock:
- Capacity to withstand a shock (vulnerability)
- Capacity to bounce back and recover from a shock
- Capacity to exploit a shock
, The Three Phases of Resilience
1. Resistance (the shock): The ability of the regional economy to
minimize the negative effects of the shock in the first place. A highly
resistant region experiences less immediate damage
2. Recovery (the bounce-back): The speed and completeness with
which the region returns to its pre-shock trajectory
3. Reorientation/Adaptation (the bounce-forward): This is the
most important evolutionary dimension. It is the ability to
fundamentally change the economic structure or institutions to
avoid similar problems in the future.
o This often involves path creation (developing new, more
sustainable industries) and institutional change (e.g.,
improving public health institutions after a pandemic or
transitioning from fossil fuels after an energy shock). A
resilient region doesn't just recover; it uses the crisis as a
catalyst for a positive transition.
A shock = an unexpected, significant event that severely disturbs the
existing social, economic, or environmental systems of a region. Shocks
disrupt the normal operating conditions and threaten the stability and
future trajectory of the local economy.
What are agglomerations, clusters and industrial
districts?
Agglomerations = general geographical concentration of people,
businesses, and economic activity in a specific area. This can lead to
agglomeration economies, which occur when the concentration of firms
and workers increases productivity and innovation.
- Shared infrastructure
- Shared labor market
- Knowledge spillovers
Externe schaalvoordelen door nabijheid.
Clusters = a more specific form of agglomeration. It is a geographical
concentration of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular
field. Clusters are more than just a collection of companies. They form an
ecosystem where collaboration and competition go hand in hand.
Michael Porter's (1990) theory on the competitive advantage of nations
Sustainable Regions
GEO2-7012 Period 1 2025 – 2026
What are innovative regions, what are sustainable
regions?
Innovative regions are characterized by a pronounced ability to
generate and adopt new ideas, technologies, products, and processes.
This capacity is considered the main driver of long-term economic
dynamism and competitiveness.
Sustainable region is defined by its ability to maintain and enhance
economic, social, and environmental well-being over time. Sustainability
also includes a region's economic resilience to shocks and its capacity
to undergo structural transformations, such as a green transition.
What is regional convergence/divergence?
Regional convergence and divergence are concepts that describe the
spatial disparity in economic development.
Regional convergence means that the income and productivity gaps
between richer and poorer regions are narrowing. Poorer regions grow
faster than richer ones, leading them to converge over time.
Regional divergence is the opposite: the gap between richer and poorer
regions widens because richer regions experience faster growth.
What is innovation?
Innovation is not just the invention of something new; it is the commercial
or practical application of an invention or a new idea.
Innovation rarely happens in isolation. It is an interactive, often non-linear
process that emerges from the interactions between different actors
within an ecosystem (regional innovation system).
The four types (Schumpeter): Innovation includes:
1. Introducing a new product or service.
2. Introducing a new production method.
, 3. Opening a new market.
4. Developing a new source of supply for raw materials.
5. Implementing a new way of organizing an industry (a new
organizational structure).
Innovation can be radical (a completely new technology, like the internet)
or incremental (small improvements to an existing product or process).
Why is knowledge concentrated in space?
Knowledge is concentrated primarily because of tacit knowledge. This is
uncodified, practical, skill-based knowledge that is embedded in people
and routines. It is "know-how" rather than "know-what." Tacit knowledge
can only be effectively transferred through face-to-face interaction,
observation, and repeated collaboration. Therefore, actors who need to
share this complex, sticky knowledge must be located close to each other,
leading to a geographical concentration of expertise.
Explicit Knowledge is codified knowledge. It is easy to write down,
transmit, and digitize. This type of knowledge travels well globally via
the internet.
Barriers to knowledge diffusion:
- Institutional distance; Knowledge transfer is impeded when the
receiving region has different formal or informal institutions.
- Cognitive distance; the recipient's knowledge base is too
different from the sender's, they simply cannot understand or
absorb the new information.
- Technological Lock-ins; regions with established technological
systems are often unwilling or unable to adopt radically different
knowledge that challenges their status quo.
What is regional resilience?
Regional resilience is the capacity of a regional economy to withstand,
recover from, and adapt to major disruptions or crises, known as shocks.
There can be many shocks. Such as, sudden and long-term. Like COVID,
financial crisis, climate change, Brexit, Ukraine war, energy crises.
Resilience to a shock:
- Capacity to withstand a shock (vulnerability)
- Capacity to bounce back and recover from a shock
- Capacity to exploit a shock
, The Three Phases of Resilience
1. Resistance (the shock): The ability of the regional economy to
minimize the negative effects of the shock in the first place. A highly
resistant region experiences less immediate damage
2. Recovery (the bounce-back): The speed and completeness with
which the region returns to its pre-shock trajectory
3. Reorientation/Adaptation (the bounce-forward): This is the
most important evolutionary dimension. It is the ability to
fundamentally change the economic structure or institutions to
avoid similar problems in the future.
o This often involves path creation (developing new, more
sustainable industries) and institutional change (e.g.,
improving public health institutions after a pandemic or
transitioning from fossil fuels after an energy shock). A
resilient region doesn't just recover; it uses the crisis as a
catalyst for a positive transition.
A shock = an unexpected, significant event that severely disturbs the
existing social, economic, or environmental systems of a region. Shocks
disrupt the normal operating conditions and threaten the stability and
future trajectory of the local economy.
What are agglomerations, clusters and industrial
districts?
Agglomerations = general geographical concentration of people,
businesses, and economic activity in a specific area. This can lead to
agglomeration economies, which occur when the concentration of firms
and workers increases productivity and innovation.
- Shared infrastructure
- Shared labor market
- Knowledge spillovers
Externe schaalvoordelen door nabijheid.
Clusters = a more specific form of agglomeration. It is a geographical
concentration of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular
field. Clusters are more than just a collection of companies. They form an
ecosystem where collaboration and competition go hand in hand.
Michael Porter's (1990) theory on the competitive advantage of nations
