IASP Innovation Districts

Arising from the collaboration of city governments, universities, companies and the local community, innovation districts are a key tool to build environmentally, economically and socially sustainable cities. They can be can be upgraded or restored districts, refurbishing old buildings and breathing life into run-down neighbourhoods or former industrial districts; or arise from new partnerships and programmes in an existing district. What they all have in common is a hybrid use of space, the coexistence of businesses and people that combine working environments with living, leisure and culture to spark innovation.

Coordinated by 22@Barcelona and former IASP President Josep Pique, the goal of the new alliance is to promote the mobility of talent, technology and capital, and to share knowledge and best practices between innovation districts, enhancing their complementarity. It will also consider the creation of performance indicators and an assessment framework. 

Founding members are PI Buenos Aires (Argentina), Melbourne Innovation Districts (Australia), Porto Digital (Brazil), TusCity (Nanjing) and CHJ Innovation Center (Shanghai) (China), Berlin Adlershof (Germany), MIND - Milano Innovation District (Italy), Glasgow City Innovation District, Here East and White City Innovation District (UK), Ann Arbor SPARK (USA) and 22@Barcelona (Spain) acting as coordinator. Membership is open with other innovation districts worldwide warmly invited to join.

Its mission statement reads:

We, the innovation districts of the world, brought together by the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP), meeting in the cloud of 22@Barcelona, proclaim the importance of urban districts of innovation: arising from collaboration between public administration, universities, companies and the community; promoting talent and technology in the pursuit of cities that are environmentally, economically and socially sustainable, and enhancing the leadership of cities in the knowledge economy.

To this end, we come together to create a global Innovation Districts Alliance, under the umbrella of the International Association of Science Parks and Areas of Innovation (IASP) and coordinated by 22@Barcelona, which will serve as a platform for sharing best practices of how to develop, manage and connect urban innovation ecosystems for the prosperity of their cities and the world, promote their continuous networking throughout the world and collect and create knowledge and global data about innovation districts.