Regional Innovation Ecosystems from Below
摘要
In the transformation from the “world’s factory” to an innovation-driven economy, the Pearl River Delta (PRD) in Guangdong has eventually created a dynamic regional innovation system characterized by a high concentration of innovation entities, resources, and networks within its geographic space. This chapter examines how the innovation policies implemented by the local governments at the three levels, i.e., local, city, and regional, played a key role in weaving the regional innovation system. All the local innovation policies can be termed under the banner of “innovation ecosystem policies,” because not only they are by origin guided by the concept of “innovation ecosystem,” but also, they spontaneously form a relatively complete policy framework from the bottom. The central concept of “ecosystem” signifies the rise of a new generation of regional innovation policies in China. In fact, the ecosystem innovation policies encompass multiple domains, covering innovation platforms, industrial clusters, innovation districts, incubation institutions, and regional knowledge systems, representing a typical holistic innovation policy approach. Additionally, the multi-tiered nature of local governance has resulted in a multi-level governance structure for implementing the policies, corresponding to different policy “spaces.” This unique combination of multi-domain policy tools and multi-level implementation governance has created a dense and robust policy network in the PRD, strongly supporting the development of regional innovation activities.