ABSTRACT
In order to investigate innovation strategies for regions and city-regions, a set of conceptual frameworks to identify factors that determine the dynamics of evolution, innovation and transition processes within a specific place is needed. Recent studies illustrate various institutional processes and contexts in which innovation and place remain “inexorably connected” (Shapira et al. 2009). The concept of ‘city-regions’ has gained popularity in both policy and theoretical discourses internationally over the last decade through the interactions of multiple ‘scales’ (for example, Boudreau 2003; Hall 2009). In the UK, this is accelerated by the recent new government policy landscape and ‘scalar’ shifts in economic and social developments, particularly in England since 2010. The abolition of the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and the establishment of sub-regional Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) have led to a redefinition and renegotiation between sub-national authorities of the roles and responsibilities in various policy areas including the planning, co-ordinating and delivery of enterprise and innovation support (Sadiq et al. 2011).
