How can Areas of Innovation play a pivotal role towards sustainable cities and communities?

As underlined in the introduction paper to the 35th IASP World Conference, cities play a key role to improve resilience and sustainability as they are the testing ground for transformational new concepts. Cities have to cope with their urban challenges (such as density, transportation, and housing) while maintaining at the same time the most desirable living conditions and managing the multiple demands and interactions of all types of actors on their territory.

The urban location of most STPs/AOIs is a key element of their identity. They have developed links and collaborations with their cities, sometimes for a long time, and they support their innovation policy to foster growth and employment. In a context of sustainable transition, how can STPs/AOIs play a pivotal role in the emergence of sustainable transitional projects and in the coordination of the different players of their community?

Through case studies from two historical areas of innovation, namely Atlanpole in Nantes (France), and Ann Arbor SPARK in Michigan (USA), we will explore two different ecosystems on both sides of the Atlantic, and discover how they have re-invented their future towards sustainable development.