Adaptive capability and path creation in the post-industrial city: the case of Nottingham’s biotechnology sector

Abstract

Adaptive capability describes the ability to respond to external shocks and take advantage of new opportunities. Central to this is path dependency and the scope for turning historic strengths to new purposes. This paper explores the emergence of a nascent bioscience cluster in Nottingham. A novel analytical device based on Kingdon's multiple streams framework is applied to explore the emergence of a new development path in this city. Local actors used a window of opportunity created by contingencies at the level of industries, firms and place to create a development path mobilizing legacy assets including physical and human capital.

Rethinking cluster evolution: Actors, institutional configurations, and new path development

“…Martin and Martin (2017) argued that the policy capacities of regions, in how policy makers identify and enact opportunities, are vital for path development and to prevent lock-ins. Similarly, Smith et al (2017) explored how a new cluster emerged out of the remnants of a declining one due to the actions of a 'policy entrepreneur', which was needed to navigate the policy changes necessary for this to occur.…”

Local economic governance strategies in the UK’s post-industrial cities and the challenges of improving local work and employment conditions

“…These individual stakeholders assisted the economic development of Nottingham by securing institutional resources to effect change and promote development. The most obvious recent manifestation of this activity was the creation in 2003 of the Bio City life science business incubation and grow-on facility that is now the largest complex of this type in the United Kingdom (Smith et al, 2017).…”

Expanding Analyses of Path Creation: Interconnections between Territory and Technology

“…Linked to this, it is argued that agency can-and should-be performed by both firm and nonfirm actors, if it is to result in real changes to industrial activities in a region (Binz, Truffer, and Coenen 2016;Isaksen et al 2018;Steen and Hansen 2018;Kyllingstad and Rypestøl 2019). This means that to change an industry or path, different types of actors, (Smith, Rossiter, and McDonald-Junor 2017) and their actions, for example, Schumpeterian entrepreneurship, institutional entrepreneurship, and path advocacy (Grillitsch and Sotarauta 2019), should be taken into consideration. For instance, Simmie, Sternberg, and Carpenter (2014) investigate the emergence of the British and German wind energy industries.…”