ABSTRACT
An emerging model of science-park driven development has materialized, stressing a number of key dimensions. This chapter focuses to the close relationship between science parks and urbanization in Spain, argues that in the Spanish case there is a problem of conceptualization of what defines parks, which reflects the parks' prob lematic land development nature within the Spanish economic structure. Alongside the significant growing number of parks since 2000, a peculiar feature in Spanish science parks is the fuzzy terminology used to define and identify them. The origins of one of Spain's first S&T park, Park Valles Technology, within Barcelona's metropolitan area, shows the complexity of public co-operation at different administrative levels and provides insights on creating consensus and mobilising public resources within Spain. In the Spanish case, the narrow dependency of innovation on land redevelopment has made Spanish S&T parks excessively dependent on urban development schemes, which may jeopardize the economic viability of some parks in the long term.
