Introduction: building innovative communities

Proponents of national-level approaches to studying innovation policy may ask: What is the point in understanding a regional innovation system (RIS) in its entirety, a task requiring detailed, in-depth case study analysis over time, if few useful comparative lessons can be drawn? I respond to such criticisms by showing how places as far-flung as Kyoto in the heartland of Japan and St. Louis in the American Midwest – though vastly different in terms of national culture – have similar features that have led each region to the forefront of innovative communities world-wide. Granted, they each possess the basic building blocks underpinning innovative communities: research universities, strong regional (if not local) governments, established service industries, and so forth.

Many regions have such basic building blocks, yet have faltered at the game of sustainable innovative community development. For example, in Cleveland, Ohio, despite world-class academic institutions and the presence of major manufacturing firms, civic factionalism undermines the region's development potential (Chu 1999; Gilman 2001). Similarly, the prevalence of bureaucratic initiatives over informal enterprise-led cooperation has led to some costly and failed attempts at economic revitalization in Flint, Michigan and Omuta, Japan. Firm-initiated projects have fared better in both regions (Gilman 2001).

What sets Kyoto and St. Louis apart from the pack are features that are to a great extent socially (and politically) driven. As such, these regions may provide valuable insights for regions elsewhere that are trying to stimulate innovative activity.