Volume 75 (2017): Edizione 2 (April 2017)

Urbanization and the knowledge economy are two concepts which are interlinked and therefore agglomerations are nowadays often considered as the centres of innovation. However, the importance of local buzz, in other words the spontaneous exchange of actors, and the existence of a tacit knowledge, was questioned in more recent empirical studies. There are indications that the access to global pipelines might be more important. Based on the analysis of 1,363 research facilities in Vienna (using spatial-statistical methods), the spatial patterns of Vienna’s research sector (considering five sub-sectors) are determined and pronounced concentrations are found. In addition, expert interviews show that the relevance of local and/or international cooperation as well as the reasons which lead to “knowledge clusters” cannot be generalized. Spatial proximity is sometimes caused by historical locations and has different meanings for different research sectors. Hence, spatial proximity should not necessarily be seen as contradictory to the increasing importance of global pipelines, which is observed in recent studies. On the one hand, spatial proximity reduces risks, which are side effects of international cooperation. On the other hand, it is actually inevitable in some research sectors. This leads to the following conclusions: First, the innovation research should take sector specific tendencies for concentrations more into account. Second, urban policy makers are advised to consider in detail the specific needs of the actors in question. In doing so, it is more likely, that research and development policies will succeed.

The regional orientation of academic activities and economic support of the university region are increasingly important responsibilities. The paper examines to which extent academic founders of the online sector decide to establish firms close to their alma mater, and which factors affecting this decision are associated with the university or the region. Are entrepreneurs’ decisions to stay or leave the region dependent upon factors of the region itself? What influence do the structure and strategic focus of the university have on this decision? These questions are of interest for political decision makers and university stakeholders – especially as the regional effectiveness of start-ups and their contribution to regional economy is put into question. This regional effectiveness justifies high public financial support. The analysis is based on the German digital platform Gründerszene, which provides services for founders in the online sector. By using regression analysis, the factors of influence of academic institutions and the region on the location decision of online founders are identified. There is no noticeably higher rate of founders deciding to stay within regions which are strong with knowledge, innovation, and service compared to structurally weak regions. On the other hand, a regional entrepreneurial climate that is conducive for start-ups is very important.

The centrally located Ostend district in Frankfurt am Main had provided space for the lower-rent housing segment in particular since the 1950s and was therefore characterised by below-average rent price and real-estate value trends. Because these trends have reversed starting in the mid-2000s, this paper analyses at first the extent to which the Ostend district is impacted by gentrification. Secondary statistical sources show an exclusionary process of displacement in this former working class neighbourhood, which had led, during the last fifteen years, to a slow but clearly distinguishable change in the social structure favouring higher income groups. In a second step we analyse how the City of Frankfurt was able to upgrade the Ostend district – something that many had considered impossible. Through an analysis of municipal documents and publications we argue that municipal decision makers have used various tools for enabling and supporting the gentrification of this district since the 1980s. The subsequent displacement processes were accelerated by the 2002 decision to relocate the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) to the Ostend district. Using discourse analysis we show that the relocation decision has led to a distinctive symbolic valorization of the district.

Shortage of housing, rising real estate prices and discussions about the ‘Right to the City’ build the background to a revival of cooperative housing models in German cities. Associative forms of housing, traditionally represented by housing cooperatives, seem to be especially suited to respond to the newly arising housing needs of an individualised and aging society. Still, the collective organization of housing appears in diverse forms and partly appeals to quite different target groups. At the same time, opportunities to act for cooperative players are greatly influenced by regional and local conditions. In former Eastern Germany long prevailing phenomena such as vacancy and deconstruction are lately being replaced by new social challenges such as the increasing tendencies to segregation and the change of generation of the housing association members. Against this backdrop, the following article is dealing with the relation between cooperative principles and the everyday needs, interest and practice of the members of a traditional housing cooperative in the city of Leipzig. The collective housing projects that were established on the local housing market in recent years serve as a frame of reference for the findings on the self-conceptions of the surveyed housing cooperatives.

In the context of demographic change there is currently an intensive discussion about how the quality of life can be maintained in villages with a shrinking population. In this paper, a spatial perspective is linked to the psychological concept of quality of life. The results of the qualitative empirical study in which 43 villagers in four Lower Saxony villages were asked how they themselves assess their quality of life in the village and where they see a need for action, their own opportunities for creativity and need for support are juxtaposed with existing and new approaches to village development. The result clearly shows that the village inhabitants attach great importance to social contacts in the village and that these, on the one hand, contribute directly to their own satisfaction with life, and on the other, also importantly constitute a basis for jointly shaping community matters and establishing good quality of life in the village. Based on these results, the authors recommend integrating social questions of village development more emphatically into village renewal plans, as well as further developing new support services. Overall, the research results emphasize the importance of the village community as a stimulus in civil society that deserves more attention as an important endogenous potential within village development.