Rising knowledge cities: the role of urban knowledge precincts

Purpose – The paper seeks to investigate the changing and challenging spatial nature of the rising knowledge cities’ knowledge precincts. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literature on recent knowledge precinct developments within the frame of innovation and urban economic competitiveness. The methodology develops a typological investigation and searches for useful insights for better understanding the fundamentals of knowledge precincts. The study exemplifies cases from Australia as well as other global best practices. Findings – The paper sheds light on the contemporary knowledge production of rising knowledge cities, and points out the changing spatial agglomeration of knowledge-intensive industries and the formation of new types of knowledge precincts as the spatial core of knowledge-based urban development. Originality/value – The paper provides an in depth discussion on the changing spatial concepts of knowledge precincts and their vital role for the knowledge-based urban development of cities.