ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the development of methods to identify and quantify areas which exhibit particularly high levels of innovation and/or new forms of organisation. The analysis of innovative milieux using areas with flexible boundaries follows Maillat’s systematic and quantitative approach. The demarcation of a space which could be regarded as innovative invites a discussion of the fundamental studies of innovation. Structural adjustment may well be quantified by measuring quantitative and qualitative modifications of the connections not only between internal variables but also between internal and external variables. The spatial localisation one can find in this data reveals, on the one hand, a strong concentration of dynamic Travel to Work Areas in or near urban areas and, on the other hand, a dispersed set of areas which are in a quantitative and positive rupture in comparison with the national trend.
