Author of The Great Reset and professor at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto.

With regards to your keynote speech on the 4th Symposium on Urban Clusters, within the framework of the BizBarcelona macro event, focused on entrepreneurship and innovation, how has 22@ contributed to Barcelona’s emergence as a European leader?

With 22@Barcelona, the city has demonstrated how to develop the necessary support structure (incubators, ecosystem and reuse) to bolster the innovation and technology that will create Barcelona’s jobs of the future and they will be critical components of Barcelona’s ability to drive economic growth. To be successful, Barcelona must have the avenues for transferring research, ideas, and innovation into marketable and sustainable products. 22@Barcelona will be paramount to this and provide a key hub of the creative age.

Who’s Your City? ranks the best places for people to live and explains what those choices mean for our happiness and communities. What, in your opinion, defines a city and its economic success?

Economic development, as anyone will tell you, is a long-term play. You have to invest in your communities now to reap the benefits in the future. We live in a time in which talent, especially creative and innovative talent, is more mobile than ever before. Communities have to realize they are competing for talent to further economic growth; for those who want to experience a “brain-gain” will have to have all the features of a complete authentic community: a good job market, thick amenities (restaurants, arts, parks etc.), appealing aesthetics, safe neighborhoods, viable public transportation, connectivity, etc.

Joan Bellavista, former President of the Board at the International Association of Science Parks here in Spain, highlighted how “Science Parks for Excellence” can better connect with urban clusters. In terms of clustering, can you define this model and why you believeit has been so successful in terms of economic growth over the past few years?

Collaboration is an essential element of creativity and innovation. I think it’s important to underscore the importance of clustering and human networking. Creative workers need to be around other thinkers, innovative and knowledge workers. Web capa-bilities and teleworking can extend a creative worker’s ability to cluster and network, but it cannot replace the importance of physical connectivity. Places that nurture urban clusters and connectivity are critically important to furthering economic prosperity.

1,502 new research-intensive com- panies have joined the 22@ innovation district during 10 years of economic growth, including 10 universities with more than 25,000 students and 12 R&D and technology transfer centres, creating an impressive 44,600 new jobs. How important is it for local authorities to create the conditions for such innovation clusters to grow and prosper?

Extremely important. As I explained in a paper, “The University and the Creative Economy,” colleges and universities are critical to regional economic development. Not only do universities play an important role in training our future workforce, they provide critical avenues for transferring research, ideas, and innovation into marketable and sustainable products. They are a hub institution in the creative age. Area officials must partner with their local universities to ensure a greater connectivity between their respective regional economies and area universities.

................................................................

URBAN CLUSTERS STIMULATE BARCELONA'S REGENERATION

Barcelona beats Madrid and New York as one of the top 50 cities of 2010 to live and work in. Innovation, culture and enterprise have given rise to urban clusters such as the 22@ innovation district, which is being showcased at Expo Shanghai 2010 until 31 October. Joan Bellavista, Managing Director at the Network of Catalonia Science and Technology Parks, gave us his views on how 22@ has embraced the clustering model.

Also President Delegate of Science Park Barcelona and past President of the International Association of Science Parks here in Spain, Joan Bellavista acted as Moderator during the 4th Symposium on Urban Clusters, highlighting how “Science Parks for Excellence” can better connect with urban clusters.

Global Perspective

Commenting on how 22@ has contributed to Barcelona’s regeneration, Bellavista explained: “Congresses, symposiums, conferences and debates are strong instruments to diffuse the role and weight of planned targets. In Barcelona, a number of different though connected instruments are jointly organised in order to place the best international experts in innovation, entrepreneurship, Science-Technology Parks and clusters in the same city. 22@ is an excellent example of a born global initiative that spreads the model of a technological local area into global networks of parks and clusters. The Symposium has been an instrument to continue Barcelona’s leadership-growing process as an innovation node and hub.”

As co-designer of the 22@ plans, Bellavista defined the model and outlined why he believes it has been so successful for economic growth over the past few years: “Parks and clusters are interconnected from a methodological and a practical point of view,” he explains. “22@ plays the role of a broad urban Science-Technology Park defined into several clusters, very knowledge-intensive and full of entrepreneurial experiences. This model has demonstrated to be successful in terms of investment and talent attraction, and these are among the most important variables for economic growth and social development.”

Visible Results

Having created 44,600 new jobs and launched 1,502 new research-intensive companies, Bellavista believes local authorities have a “crucial” role to play in making innovation clusters grow and prosper. “The decision taken years ago to devote a whole district of Barcelona to high level infrastructure, telecommunications,research-intensive companies, universities, technology centres and technology transfer is not only bright but brave. This is a true policy decision, deciding a development model for a whole district against other possibilities, and being ‘patient’ to continue the process and clustering management.”

According to data from The Economist, Spain scored 7.727 out of 10 in the Worldwide Quality of Life Index, ranking highly at 10th place in 2005 from among 111 countries. Within the context of Richard Florida’s “Cities for Excellence”, Bellavista comments: “While listening to Richard Florida, both at the Symposium and talking personally with him afterwards, I felt that he seemed very comfortable developing his research background and thoughts in Barcelona. We may understand that the high score that Barcelona has in “Quality of Life” and “Best Place for Company Location” fits in directly with the definitions Professor Florida has developed regarding creative, excellent and successful cities and mega-regions.”

Progressive Approach

To conclude his cluster analysis, Mr Bellavista described the city’s post-Olympic urban regeneration by saying: “Barcelona is fighting the present worldwide recession through urban regeneration. However, this is not new at all, and the fact that 22@ has been one of the two Barcelona districts exposed in the Shanghai Expo 2010 (with Ciutat Vella) is an interesting clue to that point. The focus on regeneration – through advanced urban planning, design, connectivity, safety, amenities, open-minded culture, knowledge-intensive companies, organisations, and all types of creative industries, services and arts – is a key element to attract the best talent, job opportunities and a verified model of development.”