ABSTRACT
In practical terms, spatial-relational mapping provides a tool for examining some of the
more ethereal aspects of NEG, which have thus far been explored in largely conceptual
ways. “Buzz” (Bathelt et al., 2002, 2004), “noise and signals” (Grabher, 2002),
“chatter” (Jones, 2007) and “information ecologies” (Grabher, 2004) describe local and
relational features of an operating framework, which are active. They capture the idea
of active information and learning networks said to materialize from face-to-face
contact within an industry at a given point in time, which produce high levels of action
and interdependency, and a social capital, which cannot be replicated in other forms.
While in much of the literature this has been treated conceptually rather than empirically,
in the few empirical studies that exist, researchers have tended to fall short and expose
structural rather than relational capital because of the difficulty of capturing these ethereal
forms within conventional research approaches. For example, Mould and Joel’s (2010)
portrayal of formal partnership boards and the composition of these succeeds in
drawing attention to individuals as agents of knowledge transfer, but not the active con-
versations, interdependencies and buzz that shape London’s advertising industry in prac-
tice. In Brennan-Horley and Gibson’s (2009) attempt to capture relational origins of
creativity, there are practical difficulties in conveying rich ethnographic accounts
through GIS mapping techniques.
