Politics of Local Innovation

<p>Some cities manage to mobilize innovation potentials and respond to challenges such as demographic change and immigration as well as economic restructuring while others do not. This book solves this problem by answering the following question: what are the conditions for the development of local innovation?</p><p>In order to identify these conditions the book explores case study cities which are perceived as success cases of local innovation by the respective local community and sometimes also nationally or internationally. The conditions for local innovations are not sought primarily in economic social or institutional circumstances. Instead this book focuses on the communicative interactions by which local actors develop locally embedded knowledge or a specific social imaginary about those circumstances as well as the constraints and opportunities deriving from them. The authors focus on a comparative case study of ten cities—Bensheim Frankfurt Kassel Leipzig and Offenbach in Germany and Athens Chania Elefsina Kalamata and Thessaloniki in Greece. The book is based on content analysis of policy documents and local newspapers as well as in-depth interviews with key local actors.</p><p>This book will be of interest to scholars and students of political science and policy analysis as well as sociology geography urban studies and planning. It will also interest local politicians and bureaucrats concerned with achieving innovation in cities.</p>