This post is part of a panel-by-panel recap of a conference I attended in October 2014, called “Innovation and the City.” Click here for an overview of the series.
Session III: The Rise of Innovation Districts
Dennis Lower – President and CEO, CORTEX Innovation Community, St. Louis
Marcos Marrero – Co-Chair, Holyoke Innovation District Task Force
Jed Howbert – Executive Director, Jobs and Economy Team, Detroit Mayor’s Office
Tucker Reed – President, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
[Moderator] Julie Wagner – Brookings Institution Non-Resident Fellow
Session III marked the beginning of Innovation and the City’s second day. The moderator, Julie Wagner, reviewed a few of the main takeaways from Day 1–
* Gone are the days of the closed innovation system. They now are porous, open, dynamic, and multi-player.
* Companies are moving from suburban office parks back towards cities to get closer to innovation clusters
* What’s become key for urban innovation: collaboration, proximity, and clustering.
Wagner then transitioned to a Brookings Institute paper she co-authored, “The Rise of Innovation Districts: A New Geography of Innovation in America,” which framed the panel’s discussion. Wagner’s paper analyzed the emerging model of collaboration occurring in cities at small scale through a new urban feature called the “innovation district.” The findings – there is tremendous diversity within these districts, and that they each draw upon an area’s unique story and assets. Broadly, there are three categories of assets:
(1) Economic – These assets are the firms, institutions, and organizations that drive, cultivate, or support an innovation-rich environment. They include anchor tenants in science, technology, creative industries like media and design, small batch manufacturing facilities, and assets that support the innovation community (incubators, co-working spaces, coffee shops, bars & restaurants, etc.). Economic assets are converging, and as a result, require new types of spaces.
(2) Physical – This includes public spaces (parks, plazas, streets), private spaces (office complexes, lab space, micro-housing), and the infrastructure that ties the two together. These places must be magnetic and energetic, but in such a way that showcases innovation and supports serendipitous collisions. Private spaces should open themselves up in order to increase connectivity with the broader district and city.
(3) Networking – Actors within the innovation district should be brought together in unique ways, making use of both their strong and weak ties.
Practitioners who leverage the assets described above tend to be entrepreneurial, willing to break down silos, convene, are creative and experimental, and not take “no” for an answer.
I’d encourage you to check out “The Rise of Innovation Districts” microsite and paper for further reading. They provide an excellent framework upon which to conceptualize innovation districts and offers examples of functioning districts in cities across the country.
Turning to the panel– the representation from four different innovation districts, all outside of Boston, made for an enlightening discussion.
Q: Describe the ambition of each innovation district.
Marcos Marrero on Holyoke, MA –
Holyoke’s driving ambition is to revive itself as a center for economic opportunity. At its industrial height in the early 20th century, Holyoke was known as the Paper City” for its strong manufacturing base in the paper industry. But as mills moved to areas with cheaper labor and operational expenses, their industrial base went away.
To stimulate growth, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, in partnership with several research universities and corporations, designated downtown Holyoke to be the site for the Massachusetts Green High-Performance Computing Center (HPCC). It is a data center dedicated to supporting the growing research computing needs of several universities. The HPCC anchors Holyoke’s new Innovation District, in line with a strategic plan for innovation-based economic development for Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley completed in October 2011. The District’s innovation-based strategy is focused on achieving three core economic development goals: (1) increase and improve job opportunities for the residents of Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley; (2) attract increased levels of private investment to Holyoke; and (3) successfully connect the HPCC and regional economic assets into a compelling and integrated economic development marketing and delivery system. The HPCC has been a great boon to Holyoke for attracting talent and economic development. However, Holyoke’s current challenge is answering how the city can leverage the HPCC into broader economic development on the ground.
Dennis Lower on the Cortex Innovation Community in St. Louis, MO –
To meet its ambition of becoming a premier innovation hub of technology and biomedical science, the people of St. Louis realized they needed some sort of innovation district to capture the economic impact of innovation and more intentionally leverage the city’s various assets in more concrete terms. This, in turn, spurred a dialogue about impact. The result was the formation of a designated space for innovation in midtown St. Louis where there’s already strong corporate and university presence but also a wealth of community assets. It’s name is Cortex— a 200-acre innovation hub and technology district integrated into St. Louis’ historic Central West End and Forest Park Southeast residential neighborhoods. Cortex a tax exempt 501(c)3 formed in 2002 by Washington University in St. Louis, BJC Healthcare, University of Missouri – St. Louis, St. Louis University, and the Missouri Botanical Garden to capture the commercial benefits of university and regional corporate research for St. Louis. Cortex started tightly bound, but has expanded to become more of a true community. It must continue to do so to meet its commitment to inclusive growth over the long-term.
Jed Howbert on Detroit, MI –
The City of Detroit recently set up a formal innovation district that covers Midtown, Downtown, and New Center to promote the interchange of the Detroit’s assets. Detroit’s challenge has been to create places for businesses to land and anchor, with the ambition of diversifying the greater Detroit economy and flipping research and development jobs from the auto industry back into the city center. According to the City’s website, The Greater Downtown area of Detroit already has some of the region’s most powerful and concentrated innovation assets– in its roughly 4.3 square miles, Greater Downtown contains 3.1% of the city’s land mass while hosting 55% of the city’s jobs. It also is home to two major medical centers, one of the country’s best design schools, three university satellite facilities, 30+ entrepreneurial service providers, and a decade of private-sector job growth. And of course, there is Dan Gilbert who, according to Forbes – well intentioned or not – “purchased and updated more than 60 properties downtown, at a total cost of $1.3 billion. He moved his own employees [from Quicken Loans] into many of them–12,000 in all, including 6,500 new hires–and cajoled other companies such as Chrysler, Microsoft and Twitter to follow.” The Kresge Foundation also recently committed $150 million over five years to implement the recommendations and strategies outlined in a report by Detroit Future City, an organization that works with a wide range of partners to cultivate initiatives to arrest decline and stabilize and improve the city.
Districts: A New Geography
of Innovation in America” }
Tucker Reed on the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP) in Brooklyn, NY –
Brooklyn’s challenge has been to deal with high vacancy rates for commercial office space and reposition Brooklyn as an exciting place to work. They assessed regional assets such as the Brooklyn Navy Yard and DUMBO (Down-Under-Manhattan-Bridge-Overpass). They then worked with partners to fill downtown Brooklyn. In recent years, the tech scene has found its home in the Brooklyn Tech Triangle, an area the borough between Downtown Brooklyn, DUMBO, and the Navy Yard. DBP came together with Mayor Bloomberg to assess each area’s needs and funding requirements. Once they attracted a few companies, they gained momentum, and have since attracted nearly $10 billion in private investment. Now that the DBP has helped Brooklyn alleviate its high vacancy rate, it aims to make that sustainable by focusing on supporting network growth. DBP is a not-for-profit local development corporation that serves as the primary champion for Downtown Brooklyn as a world-class business, cultural, educational, residential, and retail destination. According to its website, the Partnership’s diverse activities include “attracting new businesses and improving the environment for existing companies; facilitating the construction of public spaces and streetscapes that promote an active and cohesive community; supporting and promoting Downtown Brooklyn’s cultural assets; and encouraging a unified sense of place and an engaged civic community.”
Q: What is the interplay of strategies to create multi-dimensional spaces?
Lower on St. Louis – St. Louis started with focus groups with area entrepreneurs, who said that density and connectedness was lacking. In response, St. Louis developed a new master plan that could create the desired density as well as as many innovation centers within walking distance of each other as possible. They intentionally tried to create collision points through physical infrastructure.
Marrero on Holyoke – Holyoke had greater than one million square feet of excess space. Therefore, an interplay of strategies was key for drawing investment and business. Holyoke wanted to empower the industries that were already there so that they could grow organically and be more inclined to partner with each other.
Howbert on Detroit – Density is a positive feedback loop. It is both a source of and evidence for success. Detroit’s intent was to intentionally drive density to a few hubs. One tactic used was placing public transit stops in the centers of these hubs and introducing bike share systems. Yes, it is safe to bike in Detroit.
Reed on Brooklyn – Reed noted that it can be a bear in the beginning to get all stakeholders to by into the vision and plan to execute. However, this part is critical. Once there is buy-in, it becomes much easier to “herd cats” once projects get moving.
Q: How can innovation districts also be inclusive spaces?
Marrero on Holyoke – Tailored ways must be found to encourage engagement. Holyoke shouldn’t try to become a Kendall Square, which has a much different set of community assets and constraints. The Innovation District in downtown Holyoke consists predominantly of a Puerto Rican and low-income demographic. It is important to show youth that viable opportunities exist in these districts. The key question around inclusion going forward is how Holyoke can get youth to move from stakeholders to active participants who become primary actors in their Innovation District.
Lower on St. Louis – Failing to be inclusive results in situations like the unrest in Ferguson, MO (sparked by the fatal shooting of 18 year-old Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer). From its inception, Cortex has made a conscious effort to be as inclusive as they can. For example, to address construction-related inclusiveness, they organized construction-loan funds with local banks and employed locally owned construction firms. They have also partnered with middle- and high-school educational initiatives towards innovation, technology, and science mentorship and technology integration into public school curricula.
Howbert on Detroit – Detroit has a classic political divide between its downtown and suburbs, manifested most clearly through decades of turbulent race relations. To paint a picture for you: in her 1998 book Someone Else’s House: America’s Unfinished Struggle for Integration, Tamar Jacoby explains: “Eight Mile Road, Alter Road, Telegraph Road and Tireman Avenue; though originally arbitrary—lines on a map—the boundary between Detroit and its suburbs had become a chasm between two social classes. In some places, usually where the road was wide, it divided slum from new, upscale housing development. At other spots, once similar houses on either side of the street now looked like pictures before and after a natural disaster.” You can see how sharp the divide is in the map of Detroit provided below. Inclusion is a blatant political reality when considering any plan to revive Detroit. The need to be inclusive, however, does facilitate genuine relationship building amongst actors that wouldn’t traditionally engage.
Reed on Brooklyn – Inclusion is an opportunity. For political optics, inclusiveness is critical. For example, university students were a key demographic to include in development conversations. There are approximately 57,000 students in NYC, but up until two years ago, the college presidents never convened with the intent to collaborate. Brooklyn Downtown Partnership helped facilitate connections amongst the innovation and academic communities. Soon to launch is a college consortium with a focus on job creation.
Dennis Lower answered an audience question about how the vocabulary of innovation gravitates towards the tech community, and how we can evolve the vocabulary to be more inclusive. Lower explained that entrepreneurship at large is what makes communities thrive, but that broadening the focus too much (i.e. to traditional brick and mortar businesses) could dilute the potential for impact in the new economy.
And with that, the panel concluded. This was a good day to start Day 2, to get a snapshot of four living innovation districts that were diverse geographically and demographically.
About the Panelists
Dennis Lower – President and CEO, Cortex Innovation Community, St. Louis
~ Dennis Lower has been involved in technology-led economic development for the past fifteen years. Currently, he is President and CEO of the Center of Research, Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange (Cortex) in St. Louis, Missouri. Cortex is an urban bioscience district founded by Washington University, Saint Louis University, the University of Missouri – St. Louis, BJC HealthCare System and the Missouri Botanical Garden. Collectively these institutions conduct over $600,000,000 of life science research annually. Cortex seeks to leverage the region’s university and life science industry research base to establish St. Louis as a nationally and internationally recognized biosciences hub. Prior to Cortex, Mr. Lower was responsible for developing two urban research parks, serving as Vice President of Planning & Development for the Biomedical Research Foundation of NW Louisiana and Executive Director of University Heights Science Park in Newark, New Jersey (adapted from Southern Illinois Univ. Edwardsville).
Marcos Marrero – Co-Chair, Holyoke Innovation District Task Force
~ Born in New York City and raised in Puerto Rico, Marcos has a background in public policy and project development on topics such as economic development, urban affairs and sustainability. He is currently the Director of Planning & Economic Development for the City of Holyoke and a board member of Pregones Theater in the Bronx. Marcos has served the Governor of Puerto Rico as Deputy Advisor on Federal Affairs, Energy & Climate Change and as a Policy Analyst on his Transition Committee for Education. Most recently he taught Environmental Policy at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Marcos also served as the Chief of Staff of the New York City Energy Policy Office at the City’s Economic Development Corporation, where he oversaw the City’s clean energy plans and has been a Land Use and Environmental Planner at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission. He has also served many organizations as a policy and project consultant, including the Habitat for Humanity Latin America headquarters in Costa Rica, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Honduras Garifuna legislative caucus and the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company. Marcos holds a dual Masters in Public Affairs and Urban & Regional Planning from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a BA in Political Science and Economics from the University of Puerto Rico (adapted from Marcos’ personal website).
Jed Howbert – Executive Director, Jobs and Economy Team, Detroit Mayor’s Office
~ As Executive Director of the Jobs and Economy Team, Jed works with City agencies, other public partners, and the non-profit and business communities in order to design and execute programs that create jobs and attract residents to Detroit. Areas of focus include land use and real estate development, business attraction and retention programs, small business and entrepreneurial promotion, and transportation and logistics. Jed has worked previously in several roles related to urban development and real estate, including as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development in the Bloomberg Administration in New York, and as a Vice President in the Urban Investment Group at Goldman Sachs, which specializes in the financing of complex urban redevelopment projects often in partnership with municipal governments. Earlier in his career, Jed was a Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. Jed has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, a Masters of International Affairs from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, and an AB from Harvard College (adapted from the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy).
Tucker Reed – President, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
~ Tucker Reed is the President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the local economic development organization tasked with supporting Downtown Brooklyn’s emergence as New York City’s center for innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. He previously was the Director of Special Projects for Two Trees Management Company, a real estate development firm based in DUMBO, Brooklyn, where he assisted in the execution of development projects with an aggregate budget of nearly $200 million, while directing communications and community development efforts for the firm. From 2008 – 2009 Tucker worked for the State Department in Baghdad, Iraq on the rebuilding of the City and serving as Chief of Staff of the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). Prior to joining the State Department, Tucker was the founding Executive Director of the DUMBO Improvement District, responsible for launching the organization in 2006 that has overseen the flourishing development of that waterfront office and residential district. Prior to coming to DUMBO, Tucker was a Senior Policy Advisor for the Department of Small Business Services in the Bloomberg Administration. He attended Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT (adapted from Huffington Post)
[Moderator] Julie Wagner – Brookings Institution Non-Resident Fellow
~ Julie Wagner is a nonresident senior fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings. Located in Europe, Wagner is currently co-authoring the lead paper on Innovation Districts—urban enclaves that cluster leading-edge anchor institutions with startups and spin-off companies, business incubators, and accelerators in the relentless pursuit of cutting-edge discoveries for the market—a phenomonen found equally in Europe as in the United States. For Brookings, Wagner also designed and managed the initial five-prong strategy for the Global Cities Initiative, a joint project of Brookings and JPMorgan Chase, shaping its global research and global forums, 2011-2013. A city planner by training, Wagner also advises American and European city and metropolitan leaders on how to design plans drawing on strong empirical analysis. Prior to Brookings, Wagner was the Deputy Planning Director, Long Range Planning for the Government of the District of Columbia, where she developed the City’s first Long Range Vision Framework, led the initiative to develop neighborhood plans for all 131 city neighborhoods, and managed all highly controversial land use disputes. For a year, she was appointed as the regional planning director for the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, coordinating multijurisdictional planning efforts. Wagner also served on the German Marshall Fund Trans-Atlantic Advisory Committee to help design Trans-Atlantic exchanges between U.S. and European cities (adapted from Brookings Institution).
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