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A Framework for Defining Innovation Districts: Case Study from 22@ Barcelona

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A Framework for Defining Innovation Districts: Case Study from
22@ Barcelona
A. Morisson
Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, Italy

ABSTRACT: Innovation districts are being implemented as urban regeneration strategies in cities
as diverse as Barcelona (Spain), Boston (Massachusetts), Chattanooga (Tennessee), Detroit
(Michigan), Medellín (Colombia), and Montréal (Canada). Little however, is known about the
concept. This paper aims to provide a framework to define innovation districts. The research
methodology is based on a qualitative approach using 22@ Barcelona as single case study. 22@
Barcelona was the first planned innovation district and has been a model for the innovation dis-
tricts of Medellín (Colombia) and Boston (Massachusetts) among others. The paper finds that
innovation districts based on the 22@ Barcelona’s model are designed around four strategic axes,
namely urban planning, productive, collaborative, and creative, all coordinated under a strong
leadership. An innovation district is a place-based urban development strategy that aims to regen-
erate an under-performing downtown neighborhood into a desirable location for innovative and
creative companies and workers.

1 INTRODUCTION

Urban policymakers are jumping on the innovation district bandwagon. It seems that every city
in the United States is working toward having its own version of an innovation district. The con-
cept was popularized by the Brookings Institution as the next local economic development strat-
egy (Katz & Wagner, 2014). Urban leaders are designing innovation districts in cities around the
world despite the fact that little research has been done on the concept.
The City of Barcelona is a leader in urban experimentation. Scholars have coined the term “Bar-
celona model” to describe the city’s avant-gardism with respect to urban innovation (Garcia-Ra-
mon & Albet, 2000). In this tradition, Barcelona, under Mayor Joan Clos, launched—22@ Bar-
celona—in 2000, becoming the first city in the world to have a planned innovation district
(Barcelona, 2000). The development of the innovation district was motivated by the urban trans-
formations happening in knowledge cities around the world (Barceló & Oliva, 2002; Trullén,
2001). The project quickly became an iconic urban strategy being replicated around the world.
Boston, Medellín, and Montréal have implemented innovation districts modeled on 22@ Barce-
lona. 22@ Barcelona aims to transform the city of Barcelona into a knowledge city and a reference
in technological innovation in Europe (Barceló & Oliva, 2002; Oliva, 2003; Trullén, 2011). A
municipal company, 22 ARROBA BCN S.A., was created by the Mayor Joan Clos with the sole
purpose to transform the Poblenou district into an innovation district (Barcelona, 2000).
The paper investigates the definition of an innovation district. The innovation district—22@
Barcelona—was selected as single case study. The research conducted for this paper is based on
three sources of data: semi-structured interviews, secondary data, and direct observation. The pa-
per is highly relevant for urban policymakers who wish to foster knowledge-based policies
through the creation of an innovation district in their cities. The concept of an innovation district
is the policy-response to the increasingly spatial and urban dimensions of the knowledge econ-
omy. The concept of an innovation district combines innovation theories with socio-economic
trends that have emerged in the knowledge economy.
2 THE EMERGENCE OF INNOVATION DISTRICTS

In the 1990s, capitalist countries started to undergo an economic transition towards post-Fordism
or knowledge-based economies (Amin, 1994; Drucker, 1998). In the knowledge economy, tech-
nological innovation is a precondition for high standard of living and economic prosperity
(OECD, 1996). The academic literature provides, both across nations and over time, a solid theo-
retical background linking technological innovation to the progress of countries, regions, cities,
and firms (Fagerberg, 1988; Freeman, 1987; Rosenberg, 1982, 2004; Schumpeter, 1934; Solow,
1957; and many more).
In this economic transition, with the rise of the global economy and the revolutionary nature of
information and communication technologies, cities are the key units to produce technological
innovations (Castells, 1989; Florida, Adler, & Mellander, 2017). The concept of an innovation
district derives from territorial innovation models such as, regional innovation system (Braczyk,
Cooke, & Heidenreich, 1998), learning region (Florida, 1995; Morgan, 1997), innovative milieu
(Aydalot & Keeble, 1988), cluster (Porter, 1990), and industrial district (Becattini, 1992), all
pointing out the importance of the spatial dimension of innovation. Indeed, geographical proxim-
ity favors knowledge spillovers and the spread of tacit knowledge, both of which are critical, for
the development of technological innovations (Acs & Audretsch, 1988; Bathelt, Malmberg, &
Maskell, 2004; Carlino, 2001; Gertler, 1995; Jaffe, Trajtenberg, & Henderson, 1993). Storper and
Venables (2004) emphasize the importance of local buzz, which refers to the information and
communication ecology created by face-to-face contacts, co-presence and co-location of people
and firms within the same industry and place or region, that as for consequence to facilitate
knowledge spillovers and the exchange of tacit knowledge. Indeed, the exchange of knowledge
can occur from serendipitous encounters and intellectual diversity, both of which, are likelier in
dense urban neighborhoods (Jacobs, 1961).
Urban policies have had to evolve to novel technologies and socio-economic paradigms in order
to be relevant. Technological innovations, namely radical and disruptive ones, greatly influence
urban planning and urban policies (Hall, 1998). In the late 1990s, best practices in urban economic
development shifted from suburban greenfield developments towards urban regeneration projects
(Castells & Hall, 1994; Smith, 2002). In the knowledge economy, urban planning has for objec-
tives to promote mixed-use zoning, diversity, density, sustainability, the preservation of heritage
buildings, smart and sustainable infrastructures, compactness, and iconic buildings (Duany,
Speck, & Lydon, 2009; Jacobs, 1961; Kenworthy, 2006). In innovation districts, urban planning
has for objectives to strengthen urban competitiveness while promoting quality of life. While in
the 1970s to the 1990s, local and regional governments were building technology parks outside
cities, such as Sophia-Antipolis in France or the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, since
2000s however, innovation-driven developments are urban initiatives that involve public institu-
tions, universities, and private firms (Castells & Hall, 1994; Etzkowitz, 2015). Urban policies
increasingly incorporate strategies to attract innovative companies and creative workers since in-
novation is seen as one the most critical components for competitiveness and prosperity (Florida,
2002).
The paradigm-shift from mass production to knowledge-based, which was initiated by techno-
logical innovations, has deeply modified socio-economic structures (Castells, 1989). The shift
toward the knowledge economy is ending the boundaries that once separated innovation from
production, the laboratory from the factory, and is reshaping the whole organization of production
(Florida & Kenney, 1993). Along with a technological paradigm-shift favoring knowledge-based
activities for wealth creation, there is a preference shift from suburban to urban in lifestyle and
consumption. Indeed, the rise of the experience economy, the rise of the creative economy and
creative class, changing family structures, disinterest in the automobile, and the blurring line be-
tween work and leisure remake inner-city living an exciting and transformative experience (Flor-
ida, 2002; Klinenberg, 2012; Landry, 2008; Neff, 2010; Pine & Gilmore, 1998; Speck, 2013).
Regional and local policy-makers are thus adopting strategies to facilitate the transition from
mass production to the knowledge economy and from suburban to urban in order to strengthen
economic competitiveness. As a result, innovation districts participate in a reflection of how in-
novation is created at the urban level.
3 METHODOLOGY

The research methodology was based on a qualitative single case study approach, using primary
and secondary data in order to create a framework for defining the concept of an innovation dis-
trict. This paper uses a case study “out of the desire to understand a complex social phenomenon”
(Yin, 2014, p. 4). The intrinsic case selected is 22@ Barcelona, a 198.26 hectare urban regenera-
tion project, initiated in 2000 by Mayor Joan Clos (Molas & Sabata, 2011). The intrinsic case
allows for an in-depth and detailed description of the case (Stake, 2013). Indeed, 22@ Barcelona
has unusual interest since it was the first fully implemented innovation district by policymakers
and has since served as a best practice for other innovation districts around the world. The paper
investigates a contemporary phenomenon in which the researcher has no control on the actual
phenomenon, making the case study the most appropriate qualitative approach. The framework
constructed can be defined as a tool that “[e]ncompasses many variables and seeks to capture
much of the complexity of actual situations. Frameworks identify the relevant variables and the
questions which the user must answer in order to develop conclusions tailored to a particular
industry and company” (Porter, 1991, p. 98). The framework was constructed in order to organize
within a conceptual approach the extensive collection of data from multiple sources of information
(Creswell, 2013).
The research conducted for this paper is based on three sources of data: semi-structured inter-
views, secondary data, and direct observation. The semi-structured interviews were conducted in
Barcelona and over the phone with some of the key stakeholders who have participated in the
design and/or implementation of 22@ Barcelona. In total, five interviews were conducted with
experts who participated in the design of the innovation district and with former 22@ Barcelona’s
employees and director. The secondary data that were used for the research are, but were not
limited to: 22@ Barcelona websites, the City of Barcelona’s websites, peer-reviewed articles,
books, articles in newspaper, articles in magazines, and official planning documents. A number
of these secondary data were consulted at the Barcelona City Hall’s library. The direct observa-
tions involved non-participatory observations in 22@ Barcelona. In total, the researcher con-
ducted about 16 hours of informal observations. The data were then converged in a triangulating
fashion in order to “assure that the right information and interpretations have been obtained”
(Stake, 2013, p. 36).

4 THE FRAMEWORK

The paper finds that innovation districts based on the 22@ Barcelona’s model are designed around
four strategic axes, namely urban planning, productive, collaborative, and creative, all coordinated
under a strong leadership. An innovation district is a place-based urban development strategy that
aims to regenerate an under-performing downtown neighborhood into a desirable location for in-
novative and creative companies and workers.
Collaborative

Urban
Leadership Creative
Planning

Productive

Figure 1. The innovation district’s framework.

4.1 Leadership

22@ Barcelona is a strategic program that was initiated in 2000 under Mayor Joan Clos (Barce-
lona, 2000). The innovation district had for objectives to regenerate Poblenou, a former industrial
district, to accelerate Barcelona’s transition into the knowledge economy, and to attract innovative
companies and workers. The innovation district was the outcome of two working papers: the
“Digital City” and “Barcelona, City of Knowledge,” authored by a multidisciplinary team of urban
planners, public managers, social scientists, and economists (Barceló & Oliva, 2002; Trullén,
2001). The main stakeholders who participated in the creation of the innovation district are: Mayor
Joan Clos; urban leaders such as Miquel Barceló and Joan Trullén; the City of Barcelona; Barce-
lona’s urban planning department; various committees (advisory, technical, and heritage); private
companies, among which Indra, T-Systems, RBA, Telefonica, Mediapro, and Lavini; the residents
of the district who voted to approve the project; private landowners; and real estate development
companies (Barceló & Guillot, 2013; López, Romani, Sagarra, & Piqué, 2011). The municipal
company, 22@ incorporated as 22 ARROBA BCN S.A., was specifically created in 2000 by the
municipal government in order to supervise and pilot the transformation of the Poblenou district
into an innovation district (Barcelona, 2000). Indeed, the municipal company was in charge of
delivering zoning permits, the urban planning, coordinating social, networking, and training ac-
tivities, and branding the district to national and international companies and workers.

4.2 Urban Planning

The urban planning dimension at 22@ Barcelona is the outcome of three decisive documents: the
MPGM22@, which modifies zoning laws, the Special Infrastructure Plan, which plans future in-
frastructures, and the Special Plan for Historical/Artistic Architectural Heritage (Barcelona, 2000;
Barceló & Guillot, 2013; López et al., 2011). In 22@ Barcelona, urban planning has four goals:
to foster the development of new activities though zoning laws, to create diversity, to encourage
density, and to generate a good quality of life.
The zoning regulations had to evolve in order to better respond to the productive imperatives of
the knowledge economy. The MPGM22@ provides incentives to the landowners to build more
intensively at the condition of favoring the development of knowledge-based companies (Barce-
lona, 2000; Barceló & Guillot, 2013). The zoning laws that were adopted in 2000, change the
zoning from “22a” to “22@,” that is, from an industrial zoning to a mixed-use zoning (Barcelona,
2000; Battaglia & Tremblay, 2012; Molas & Sabata, 2011). The zoning laws requires developers
to contribute to the special infrastructures plan and to transfer thirty percent of the built area to
the municipal company, 22@ (Barceló & Guillot, 2013; Barcelona, 2012). The municipal com-
pany then divides the land transferred into allocating social housing, 7@ amenities, and green
spaces (Barceló & Guillot, 2013; Barcelona, 2012).
The zoning regulations aim to create a mixed-use, diverse, compact, and dense neighborhood.
Productive activities, research centers, training centers, technology transfer offices, residential,
offices, green areas, and urban facilities are mixed together in the 22@ district (Barcelona, 2012).
The 22@ district regulations protect historical buildings, and promote density and diversity of
activities and socioeconomic backgrounds (Barceló, 2005). The special infrastructure plan aims
to upgrade 37 km of streets; to upgrade public transportation; to build underground galleries; to
include district heating and cooling; to upgrade public transportation; and to implement pneumatic
waste collection systems, fiber optics, and water management systems (Barcelona Activa, 2012;
Espelt-Lleonart, 2012). The special infrastructure plan aims to create a new centrality in the City
of Barcelona and to favor public transports (Barcelona, 2012; Oliva, 2003, Sabaté & Tironi, 2008;
Trullén, 2011).

4.3 Productive

22@ Barcelona aims to attract, retain, and facilitate the creation of knowledge-based companies.
The OECD working paper on science, technology, and industry, published in 1991 was used to
define what constitute a knowledge-based company in the 22@ district (Trullén, 2011).
Knowledge-based companies are characterized by an intensive use of ICT, a high employment
density (workers per surface), the generation of knowledge, the high value added, and their urban
features (Barcelona, 2000; Trullén, 2011). In 2004, 22@ Barcelona has adopted a cluster-based
urban development approach, which focused on four clusters: media, ICT, medical technologies,
and energy (López et al., 2011). The design cluster was added to the list in 2008 (López et al.,
2011). The clusters were selected on the basis of potential growth and prior capabilities (Battaglia
& Tremblay, 2012). The objective is, for each cluster, to reach a competitive position internation-
ally. As of 2017, the media cluster is the most advanced. The media cluster intends to have
115,000 m2 for businesses and 60,000 m2 for facilities, which will include public institutions,
private companies, the Pompeu Fabra communication campus, the Barcelona Media Park, the
Barcelona Media Innovation Centre, private residences, incubators, and an innovation center, the
Barcelona Growth Center (Barceló & Guillot, 2013).
22@ Barcelona aims to attract, retain, and create entrepreneurs. Barcelona has launched 22@
Emprendedores (entrepreneurs) to create the suitable conditions for the 22@ Barcelona startup
ecosystem to become a magnet for entrepreneurs (Barceló, 2005). The 22@ district launched
many projects and initiated incentives to foster entrepreneurship, such as Barcelona Activa, which
is the largest public business incubator in Europe; the Barcelona Growth Center, a building that
provides spaces to facilitate interactions between entrepreneurs and incubators, consultants, and
accelerators; the 22@ landing platforms where startups can rent offices or desks on a weekly or
monthly basis; and the residences for entrepreneurs (Barcelona Activa, 2012).

4.4 Collaborative

22@ Barcelona aims to promote collaboration, the spread of tacit knowledge, and face-to-face
interactions between diverse actors. The triple helix model of innovation is incorporated in each
cluster where private companies, universities, and public institutions collaborate together to
achieve breakthrough innovation (Etzkowitz & Piqué, 2011). In the media cluster for instance,
the innovation district aims to favor the collaboration between a public university (Universidad
Pompeu Fabra), a leading private company in the Catalonian audiovisual sector (Mediapro), sev-
eral entities from the Barcelona City Hall (Department for Culture, Local Development Agency,
22@ Barcelona), and the regional government (Centre for Corporate Innovation and Develop-
ment) (Barceló, 2005).
The “7@ amenities,” which are defined as training activities and centers of diffusion of new
technologies, involve university research centers, R&D laboratories, and training centers (Barce-
lona, 2000). Their goals are to prevent a digital divide in the population and to promote collabo-
ration (Oliva, 2003). The building Barcelona Growth Center, which is the flagship 7@ amenities
inaugurated in 2010, covers an area of 14,000 m2 and serves as a communication hub and meeting
point for businesses, students, entrepreneurs, R&D centers, and institutions in the Media and ICT
clusters (Barcelona Activa, 2012). The building includes private companies, entrepreneurs, incu-
bators, accelerators, landing platforms; and the Cibernarium, which a digital training center (Bar-
celona Activa, 2012).
22@ Barcelona has launched a number of activities in order to promote interactions between dif-
ferent innovative actors such as, 22@ Synergys, 22@ Breakfast, 22@ Urban Labs, and 22@ Net-
working. The 22@ Synergys provides open platforms for conferences, debates, and collaboration
for the scientific and industrial community (Granados, 2011). The 22@ Urban Labs are platforms
for citizens’ testing of new products and urban services (Almirall & Chesbrough, 2011; Granados,
2011; Majó, 2011). In this context, the urban labs serve as a medium for open innovation (Almirall
& Chesbrough, 2011; Majó, 2011). The 22@ Breakfast and 22@ Networking offer opportunities
for networking and social interactions (Barcelona, 2012).

4.5 Creative

22@ Barcelona aims to regenerate Poblenou into a neighborhood attractive for the creative class
and for creative companies. The zoning laws provide incentives to create urban features that are
highly valued for the creative class, such as the architectural diversity; the adaptive reuse of in-
dustrial buildings into offices, museums, lofts, bars, and restaurants; and the preservation of his-
torical buildings (Barcelona, 2012). More importantly, the zoning laws favor the creation of a
24/7 mixed-use live, work, and play neighborhood. The old factories, such as the emblematic Can
Ricart or Can Framis factory, are converted into lofts, museums, and public spaces (Sabaté and
Tironi, 2008). Barceló and Guillot (2013) describe the strategies that have been adopted in acti-
vating 22@ Barcelona as a creative district such as, to foster international culture and networks
with the IN22@, to open museums (e.g., Museum of Design of Barcelona, and Vila Casas Foun-
dation in Can Framis), and to promote cultural events (e.g., exhibitions, concerts, festivals); to
reinforce a strong district identity and sense of community within the 22@ Poblenou; to promote
quality of life with green areas (e.g., Barcelona Central Park) and sport activities (e.g., Can Ricart,
shared bicycles); to create shared spaces for entrepreneurs, professionals, and students (e.g., land-
ing platforms, Melon district residences); to attract talents with the 22@ Creatalent and 22@ Stay-
ing in Company; and to promote an innovative and digital culture with educational programs
(Barceló, 2005; Barceló & Guillot, 2013; Granados, 2011; Pareja-Eastway, 2011).

5 DISCUSSION

Innovation districts are the latest trend in knowledge-based urban development, as used to be the
technology parks in the 1980s and 1990s (Castells & Hall, 1994). Regional and urban policymak-
ers used technology parks, such as Research Triangle Park in North Carolina or Sophia-Antipolis
in France, as a strategy to emulate the success of the Silicon Valley, which spontaneously grew
through market forces around Stanford Research Park founded by Stanford University’s dean in
1951 (Castells & Hall, 1994).
In the late 1990s, thanks to innovations in information and communication technologies (ICT),
Internet startups and creative companies started to cluster in neighborhoods such as, Silicon Alley
(New York), Mission District (San Francisco), Shoreditch (London), and Silicon Sentier (Paris).
The innovative startups and creative companies decided to locate in these districts, which were
often former manufacturing districts, due to their centrality, high urban amenities, and low rents
(Barceló & Oliva, 2002). Innovation districts intend to replicate the spontaneous growth of the
above-mentioned innovation districts, which emerged through market forces, without any formal
planning and/or strategy from the city’s authority. In contrast with spontaneous innovation dis-
tricts, 22@ Barcelona and its brainchild innovation districts are led by municipal and/or other
public organizations. As a result, while market-led innovation districts are self-sustaining, munic-
ipal leadership is needed to pilot the transformation of the public-led innovation district into a
self-sustaining innovation district. Much like technology parks, urban and regional policymakers
aim with innovation districts to mimic market-led innovation districts in order to create the needed
agglomeration economies to foster a self-sustaining and cumulative causation growth.

Collaborative Collaborative

Urban Urban
Leadership Creative Creative
Planning Planning

Productive Productive

Figure 2. From public-led innovation districts to market-led innovation districts.

In the innovation district’s framework, each dimension interacts with one another, creating a
feedback loop that reinforces the district’s innovative capacity. These feedback loops and cumu-
lative processes strengthen the innovative capacities of both the firms and the individuals located
in the innovation district. Local governments developing innovation districts can, in turn, affect
the sophistication of the framework, and thus their cities’ innovative capacities, by upgrading the
different processes in any of the five dimensions of the framework.

6 CONCLUSION

Innovation districts are place-based urban policies that aim to take advantage of the revolutionary
nature of information communication technologies and of the spatial dimension of innovation in
the knowledge economy. The paper finds that innovation districts based on the 22@ Barcelona’s
model are designed around four strategic axes, namely urban planning, productive, collaborative,
and creative, all coordinated under a strong leadership. An innovation district is a place-based
urban development strategy that aims to regenerate an under-performing downtown neighborhood
into a desirable location for innovative and creative companies and workers.
As the concept of an innovation district becomes the next trend in urban development, urban
and regional policymakers should adopt the framework developed in this paper in order to assess
the strengths and weaknesses of designing their own version of an innovation district. The frame-
work developed in this paper is however, only generalizable to large cities with a critical mass of
knowledge-based companies. Market-led innovation districts have proven to greatly contribute to
gentrification (Mirabal, 2009). Public-led innovation districts should, as a result, find ways in
providing social benefits and services in order to limit the negative externalities arising from gen-
trification. Despite the success of 22@ Barcelona in achieving to regenerate more than 70% of
the industrial areas in Poblenou, which represent more 3,000,000-meter-squares of new produc-
tive, collaborative, and housing spaces, and in adding 4,500 companies, the municipal company,
22 ARROBA BCN., was dissolved after the election of Barcelona’s new Mayor Xavier Trias in
2011 (22@ Barcelona, 2011; Battaglia & Tremblay, 2012). Future work should investigate the
possible strategies to mitigate the innovation district’s dependence on the municipal government
in the leadership dimension for the viability of public-led innovation districts.

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