Knowledge‐based Development for Cities and Societies: Integrated Multi‐level Approaches

Citation

Mason, D. (2010), "Knowledge‐based Development for Cities and Societies: Integrated Multi‐level Approaches", Online Information Review, Vol. 34 No. 6, pp. 986-987. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684521011099469

Today more than 50 per cent of the global population lives in cities. The premise of this book is that cities are going through another revolution, and the change is being driven by the knowledge technology currently appearing in our cities. Cities are now seen not only as places to exchange goods, but places to exchange information and communication networks. The information architecture of cities is becoming as important as their buildings and highways. The articles in this book put forward the idea that perhaps cities should be designed in a different way, to maximise intelligent social integration and networked interactivity by a process the editor calls “knowledge‐based development”.

The research is presented in three sections. Section 1 has seven chapters on the concepts and foundations of knowledge‐based development mostly based on case studies from particular cities. The first article describes the basic outline of the field. The remaining articles put forward hypotheses for development based on analysis of the activities of various city authorities. These include ways to attract and keep knowledge workers, how proximity affects knowledge exchange and the role of universities as knowledge generators.

The second section has seven articles which are meant to reflect multilevel approaches but appear to be fairly standard knowledge management pieces. If anything, these are more theoretical than the articles in first section. Many use standard metaphors as a way to theorise about how individuals and communities of practice should interact and manage knowledge. One interesting chapter examines how McDonalds outlets incorporate tacit knowledge of its consumers.

The third section has five articles advocating global best practice, looking for lessons from leading knowledge‐based economies. There are cases from Singapore, the pioneer in city‐wide information infrastructure; from Israel, a major innovator of security software; two from Malaysia and its Mulitmedia Super Corridor enterprise; and one from Manchester, one of the first cities to appoint a Chief Knowledge Officer.

Overall, the articles are well written and wide‐ranging. There are many interesting ideas in these chapters, but the basic premise is perhaps not proven. Knowledge is undoubtedly important, and has some role to play in shaping societies, but whether it actually has the transforming power advocated in this book remains to be seen.