Milieu d L'interior: Innovation Districts are not new

Abstract Innovation districts are rapidly emerging across the globe. With developed economies shifting their services from a post-industrial manufacturing era into a knowledge-based economy in which intellectual capital is the new currency. Because of this reason cities are competing for talent both, to attract and retain it in the form of individuals and of organisations. To do this successfully cities need to re-invent themselves in order to be the destination of choice. This paper argues that Innovation districts, as manifested in the 21 Century are not a consequence of our current planning strategies but a human condition. Technological advances such as mobility, public transport and the internet accelerate the innovation process though. The paper is exploratory in nature and begins with a historical perspective overviewing the emergence of innovation at various turning points. Today clusters of innovation are present in many cities in the form of business incubators, start-ups, research institutes and universities. These clusters can emerge by serendipity or by prescriptive set of planning guides ensuring a set of environmental conditions. The paper then argues that either top-down ie. The Ideal City of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th Century or bottom-up approach such as postmodern Britain of the 1960's can result in fruitful innovation and the explanation to this speculative human phenomena known as homeostasis or Milieu de l'intérieur which deals with the constancy of the internal environment. Design and planning conditions to creating innovation districts in the 21st can accelerate the innovation. This paper calls for a better understanding of the underlying cognitive, social, behavioural and environmental phenomena will result in more effective built urban interventions.