Emma Frost reflects on our recent report launch providing an update on a sector that is driving the evolution of innovation districts models.

The landscape of innovation is changing. So too is the rate of growth in the innovation economy.

Over the last 15 years, there has been a distinct shift away from more secluded, out-of-town innovation campuses towards new models that favour urban vibrancy, diversity, connectedness, and proximity. Over that same period, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in economic growth related to sectors typically classified as part of the innovation economy –  Bioscience alone is projected to become the world’s next trillion-dollar industry (McKinsey 2020). More broadly, innovation is helping to fuel the Fourth Industrial Revolution which is said to be stimulating change at a rate 10 times faster and at 300 times the scale than the First Industrial Revolution in Victorian times. 

Clearly innovation, and specifically, Innovation Districts –where much of this activity is increasingly centred – have a key role to play in the local, regional and national economy. These innovation clusters are undoubtedly exciting and progressive places with a clear focus on prosperity and growth. But they also have fundamental questions to address about the nature of that growth and how inclusive it can be, and the role that place-based innovation must play in contributing to this. At a time of rising inequality, these locations are faced with one of London’s greatest challenges: inclusive economic growth.

In the backstreets of what was once dubbed “Silicon Roundabout”, the NLA hosted a breakfast session to explore just this and share the most recent report considering Inclusive innovation: Innovation Districts: Designing Inclusive Places.

This report offers a practical framework for how we think about designing and managing innovative places more inclusively. It asks a fundamental question “what do we want Innovation Districts to be and to deliver, and how do we best enable this?”

The report examines this through the different lenses of vision and strategy setting, physical placemaking, management and stewardship as well as employment and skills. 

 

At the launch, Jack Sallabank, Founder, Future Places Studio, and researcher of the report, gave a summary of the report before the Panel shared their reflections and answered questions from the 60-strong audience. 

 

Jonathan Burroughs, CEO, Creative Places and Chair of the NLA Innovation Districts Expert Panel, started by setting out what we mean by innovation: “Innovation is about developing products and services that respond to a challenge or problem; about invention and enterprise – it’s not sector specific. It’s not science and tech alone”.  He touched on the different roles that different sector leads need to play in this as well as the importance of the cultural dimension of innovation – a willingness to think outside the box and be brave. A different approach to risk-taking, that feeds enterprise and entrepreneurialism.  

 

The panel discussed that organisations locate in these sorts of innovation clusters access R&D, access an enterprise mix, and crucially access talent. The development of different and diverse skills and employment pathways is a key theme in the report. As captured in the panel discussion “diversity is a pre-requisite for innovation”.  

 

Sue Foxley, Director of Research, Bidwells, set out that the nature of the life science industry will change radically over the next 10 years. “The science and tech is evolving so so quickly now, so flexibility and adaptability of the design (and management) of spaces and facilities are more important than ever.” Re-use of spaces, interim uses, changing uses and layouts and design will all be essential in the new models of innovation development. 

 

The panel also agreed that quality leadership is a fundamental success criteria across all innovation districts. Finally, the discussion closed with the recognition that we need Innovation Districts to be places that break from the status quo; hyper-connected places tuned into the diverse neighbourhoods in which they are part in order to help generate new ideas and methods that can solve pressing problems.  We need to be prioritising new urban models of innovation clusters that operate in sympathy with their cities and thrive off the dynamism and diversity of their urban mix and ecosystems.  Put simply, we all have a role to play in how we reinvent the model towards more equitable, inclusive and responsible innovation districts.