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Knowledge and the Economy pp 61–78Cite as

Knowledge Creation and the Geographies of Local, Global, and Virtual Buzz

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Part of the book series: Knowledge and Space ((KNAS,volume 5))

Abstract

This chapter is a systematic investigation of the effects that new communication technologies and different organizational forms of economic interaction have on knowledge creation and innovation processes. The emphasis is on the potential of combining computer-mediated communication (CMC) with forms of temporary and permanent face-to-face (F2F) interaction. It is pointed out that permanent co-location and F2F interaction may be efficient in some contexts but not in others and that temporary and virtual interaction, supported by CMC, are increasingly becoming the basis for establishing trans-local production networks. By combining results from social psychology with economic geography, the authors argue that there is no generally superior spatial fix for economic interaction. Different spatial configurations can be advantageous in different production and innovation contexts, even over large distances, without permanent or even regular F2F contact.

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Acknowledgements

This chapter is based on Bathelt and Turi (2011). Parts of it were presented at various conferences between 2008 and 2010: the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Boston, Massachusetts; the Conference on “Industrial Cluster and Regional Development” in Kaifeng, China; the Symposium on “Knowledge and Economy” in Heidelberg, Germany; the Summer Institute in Economic Geography in Manchester, England; and the Summer School on “Management of Creativity in an Innovation Society” at HEC Montréal, Canada. We thank all the participants of these meetings, particularly Patrick Cohendet, Johannes Glückler, Ulf Matthiessen, Peter Meusburger, and one anonymous reviewer for thoughtful comments and suggestions that greatly helped the revision of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and Department of Geography and Program in Planning, University of Toronto, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 3G3, Canada

    Harald Bathelt

  2. 3481 Yale Rd., Mississauga, ON, L5A 2V4, Canada

    Philip G. Turi

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  1. Harald Bathelt
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Correspondence to Harald Bathelt .

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  1. Abt. Geographie, Universität Heidelberg, Berliner Str. 48, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Peter Meusburger

  2. , Geographisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, Berliner Str. 48, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Johannes Glückler

  3. , Department of Geography, Heidelberg University, Berliner Strasse 48, Heidelberg, 69120, Germany

    Martina el Meskioui

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Bathelt, H., Turi, P.G. (2013). Knowledge Creation and the Geographies of Local, Global, and Virtual Buzz. In: Meusburger, P., Glückler, J., el Meskioui, M. (eds) Knowledge and the Economy. Knowledge and Space, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6131-5_4

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