Knowledge Space Economy

First published in 2000. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

We are now living through a period of knowledge capitalism in which, as Castells put it, 'the action of knowledge upon knowledge is the main source of productivity.' In the face of such transformation, the economic, social and institutional contours of contemporary capitalism are being reshaped. At the heart of this world are an emergent set of economies, regions, institutions and peoples central of the flows and translations of knowledge. This book provides an interdisciplinary review of the triad of knowledge, space, economy on entering the twenty-first century. Drawing on a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, the first part of the book comprises a set of statements by leading authors on the role of knowledge in capitalism. Thereafter, the remaining two parts of the book explore the landscape of knowledge capitalism through a series of analyses of knowledge in action within a range of economic, political and cultural contexts. Bringing together a set of authors from across the social sciences, this book provides both a major theoretical statement on understanding the economic world and an empirical exemplification of the power of knowledge in shaping the spaces and places of today's society.

This book explores the relationship between space and economy, the spatial expressions of the knowledge economy. The capitalist industrial economy produced its own space, which differed radically from its predecessor agrarian and mercantile economies. If a new knowledge-based economy is emerging, it is similarly expected to produce its own space to suit the new circumstances of production and consumption. If these spatial expressions do exist, even if in incomplete and partial forms, they are likely to be the model for the future of cities.

This volume deals with key issues of the space economy, defined as the full range of activities and the use of resources that create value and benefits for human beings in the course of exploring, researching, understanding, managing and utilizing space. These topics are treated from an economic perspective, with particular attention paid to the development of knowledge, as well as the set-up of technologies with high industrial impacts. The book, thus, provides a new and wider interpretation of the space economy, focusing on the (tangible) returns of the investments made in the space industry since the Space Race. It will particularly appeal to scholars, researchers and PhD students, as well as those in the space community.

The space economy is expanding and becoming increasingly global, driven by the development of ever-more governmental space programmes around the world, the multiplication of commercial actors in value chains, durable digitalisation trends, and new space systems coming of age. This report describes these emerging trends using new and internationally comparable data and indicators.

The broad spectrum of topics surrounding what is termed the ‘knowledge economy’ has attracted increasing attention from the scientific community in recent years. The nature of knowledge-intensive industries, the spatiality of knowledge, the role of proximity and distance in generating functional knowledge, the transfer of knowledge via networks, and the complex interplay between knowledge, location and economic development are all live academic issues. This book, the fifth volume in Springer’s Knowledge and Space series, focuses on the last of these: the multiple relationships between knowledge, the economy, and space. It reflects the conceptual and methodological multidisciplinarity emerging from this scholarship, yet where there has up to now been a notable lack of communication between some of the contributing disciplines, resulting in lexical and other confusions, this volume brings concord and to foster interdisciplinarity. These complications have been especially evident in our understanding of the spatiality of knowledge, the part that spatial contexts play in knowledge creation and diffusion, and the relevance of face-to-face contacts, all of which are addressed in these pages. The material here is grouped into four sections—knowledge creation and economy, knowledge and economic development, knowledge and networks, and knowledge and clusters. It assembles new concepts and original empirical research from geography, economics, sociology, international business relations, and management. The book addresses a varied audience interested in the historical and spatial foundations of the knowledge economy and is intended to bridge some of the gaps between the differing approaches to research on knowledge, the economy, and space.

This book explores the relationship between space and economy, the spatial expressions of the knowledge economy. The capitalist industrial economy produced its own space, which differed radically from its predecessor agrarian and mercantile economies. If a new knowledge-based economy is emerging, it is similarly expected to produce its own space to suit the new circumstances of production and consumption. If these spatial expressions do exist, even if in incomplete and partial forms, they are likely to be the model for the future of cities.

"Marginson, Murphy and Peters have created a tour de force on globalization. The authors perform a narrative high wire act for the readers, and we come away thrilled, wanting more."---Willam G. Tierney, Professor, University of Southern California, Los Angeles --Book Jacket.