Regions and cities are the natural loci where knowledge is created, and where it can be easily turned into a commercial product. Regions are territories where, under certain socio-economic conditions, a strong sense of belonging and mutual trust develops the ability to transform information and inventions into innovation and productivity increases, through cooperative or market interaction. Especially in contexts characterised by a plurality of agents - such as cities or industrial districts - knowledge is the result of cooperative learning processes, nourished by spatial proximity,...

This book offers a complex analysis of the spatial aspects of scientific collaboration, addressing the topic at a number of levels: individual (personal), organizational, urban, regional, national, and international. Spatial patterns of scientific collaboration are analysed along with their determinants and consequences.

The examples of scientific collaboration policy discussed in the book are taken from three different settings: the European Union, the USA and China. Through a number of case studies the authors analyse the background, development and evaluation of these...