| dc.description.abstract | Conclusion
The main point of this study is that Parkstad’s current restructuring approach does not meet the needs of the businesses. The growth potential of businesses will only be unleashed if Parkstad meets their needs. These needs do not seem to be a restructuring of the hardware on the industrial estates. Unfortunately BIDs have proven not to contribute to sustainable socio-economic development. Hence, the approach to restructuring of industrial estates that can contribute to a transition towards a sustainable socio-economic structure should contain other elements.
The elements such an approach should contain can primarily be found in the evolutionary economic theories. Evolutionary economists argue that qualitative change, that is the attraction of new variety, is the way to achieve economic growth. The emergence of networks is hereby important as they quickly transfer knowledge and with that promote learning and innovation. Related variety is important to accelerate the formation of such networks. The intangible features that especially related variety networks have, make the actors within the network regionally embedded. The embeddedness is on the one hand caused by the multiple relations ones business has within the region, but on the other hand on the devastating effects leaving such a network would have for ones business. Networks can however not be created by policy means, it always is a natural process started by businesses from the bottom-up. Hence, the only way for Parkstad to execute this approach is to take a facilitative role and to meet the needs of businesses. This can be referred to as restructuring the soft- and orgware of the industrial estates.
This alternative approach of restructuring the soft- and orgware of the industrial estates improves the economic performance of the region. This new approach towards restructuring implies for planning that Parkstad and other governmental parties should take a facilitative role to let leading private actors initiate new projects. This approach furthermore implies that Parkstad needs to unlearn in order to build new institutional capacity that is totally adjusted to this new approach.
Recommendations
An opportunity is a centre of excellence for life science. First Parkstad should get the support from leading actors like DSM, Philips, Medtronic, Maastricht University and Aachen University. If these actors join forces and define themes they want to work on, a start is made. Then the involved actors should define which institutions are holding the region back from becoming a centre of excellence for life science. Formal institutions like ‘patent driven innovation’ and informal institutions like the non-entrepreneurial atmosphere could be such institutions. A new institutional context should be implemented that can work its way round these institutions. When this is done the strategy can be defined. Related variety seems hereby the key to success. With related variety the region can create a centre of excellence that has intangible features. Spin-offs, labour mobility and networks are the most important factors to achieve this. Therefore, the actors should try to connect and cooperate with related industries, firms and knowledge centres to ultimately create an extensive network. Also they should focus on mobilizing employees of these businesses to change employers in order to stimulate knowledge transfer, learning and innovation. For example, the absorption of new high talented professors for the universities and academic students graduating at companies like Medtronic and DSM. Last, the region should try to stimulate employees and students with new inventions to start new businesses with these inventions. These factors would most likely be able to create the centre of excellence for life science.
Hence, to really let restructuring of industrial estates contribute to a more sustainable socio-economic structure, a real transition for Parkstad is needed. The way of looking at restructuring should change, the way of looking at space should change, the way the public actors are operating and making policy should change and the attitude of the businesses should change. However, it is the ability to unlearn that makes a region attract new variety. New variety is needed for the growth of the regional economy. It would therefore suit Parkstad if they would really go for it! | |
