Speaker
Description
In recent years, in response to global competition and the transition between old and new economic drivers within the domestic economy, the development of innovation districts has emerged as a significant strategic initiative in China. With strong government support, numerous industrial parks and new districts have begun transitioning into innovation districts, yet they continue to adopt a supply-oriented land development model. In practical development, many innovation districts face multiple challenges, including mismatched supply and demand for spatial products, inefficient resource allocation, imbalance between industrial and urban development, as well as job-housing mismatches, inadequate public facility capacity, and spatial segregation. Therefore, there is an urgent need for innovation districts to shift from a supply-side to a demand-side approach, which implies giving attention to "bottom-up" practical needs.
This study takes Hangzhou West Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, one of China's most economically vibrant and innovative cities, as an example. It takes entrepreneurs and employees, the practitioners of spatial production in innovation districts, as the benchmarks for effective demand.It conducts an in-depth analysis and understanding of their characteristics, spatial needs, and the inadequacies of existing regional supply to guide and optimize the spatial planning and sustainable governance strategies of innovation districts.
The research findings are as follows: ① Demographic Traits: Entrepreneurs exhibit localized, youthful, highly educated, and experienced individual traits, daring to actively start their own businesses; employees are localized, youthful, highly educated, and have stable mobility, pursuing self-worth. These traits are associated with the region's "mercantile" cultural characteristics. ② Spatial needs: Enterprises at different stages present different resource needs and spatial choices. Startups prioritize low costs and convenience, growing enterprises focus on the potential for specialized development, mature enterprises emphasize access to human resources and future expansion possibilities, while declining enterprises look forward to the reuse of inefficient spaces; employees prioritize personal growth over employment cost considerations, and employees of different age groups have varying motivations for job location choices and needs for spatial amenities, leading to different spatial location choices. ③ Local supply: Existing planning focuses on the supply of industrial spatial resources in the region, with insufficient attention to startups and declining enterprises; the supporting industrial spaces in the region still follow traditional layouts, neglecting the special needs of high-quality talent in innovation districts.
In general, our research proposes a demand-side-oriented approach to spatial planning and governance in innovation districts, emphasizing the actual needs of entrepreneurs and employees as the core. This approach not only reveals the unique spatial development needs of innovation districts compared to other areas but also provides directions for improvement in the sustainable development and spatial governance of innovation districts, possessing certain contemporary significance and academic value.
References
[1] Guangtao Wang. A Research on the Structural Reform of the Supply Front and New-type Urbanization [J]. Urban Planning Forum, 2017(1): 10-18.
[2] Zhao Min, Cheng Yao. Research on Planning Guidance and Control Strategies of Innovative Industrial Spaces in the New Areas: with Xiong'an New Area as an Example[J]. City Planning Review, 2022, 46(04): 72-76+106.
| Keywords | Innovation District; Entrepreneurs; Employees; Spatial Governance |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | Yes |
