Knowledge Cities

Purpose – With rapid growth of Australia’s Gold Coast into a tourist consumption city (Mullins 2008) of half a million people, Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) seeks to diversify the city’s economy, lifestyle and culture. This paper investigates this transformation by reviewing policies, projects and programs arising from GCCC visions of a healthy city benefiting from knowledge based urban development (KBUD) (Yigitcanlar et al., 2008). Secondly, the paper aims to identify opportunities and challenges in developing the emerging cosmopolitan city as a knowledge and healthy city. The paper focuses not only on larger knowledge and health nodes along major highways but also investigates the potential for developing a network of smaller nodes with active transport, thus providing a more holistic and integrated perspective for long term sustainability of the city and region.

Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on documentary research of secondary materials such as government policy documents and plans relating to economic development, major infrastructure projects, urban design and community planning.  The documentary research is supplemented by spatial analysis including field visits to the major and minor knowledge/health nodes in their urban/suburban contexts.

Originality/value – Much of the literature on knowledge based urban development (KBUD) has a stronger focus on larger metropolitan cities.  However, this paper focuses on a smaller non-metropolitan city thus giving insights into how principles and practices of KBUD operate at a smaller scale. The paper also makes closer links between KBUD and healthy cities initiatives than is evident in much of the existing literature.

Practical implications – The findings of paper will have practical application for Gold Coast City Council in providing critical review to inform a strengthening of the Council’s current policies and programs on knowledge precincts, health hubs and urban health.  The lessons from this paper will also be relevant for other cities and towns developing knowledge and healthy city initiatives, particularly those cities currently based on tourism and car dependency.

This paper discusses the way digital services advance urban
knowledge ecosystems. The introductory part sets the frame of this paper; the second part conducts a systematic literature review regarding the association of knowledge with urban development since the beginning of the millennium, placing emphasis on urban knowledge ecosystems. The third part explores the benefits of using digital services in the implementation an urban knowledge ecosystem. The fourth and last part of the main body of this paper examines the urban knowledge ecosystem at the medium-sized city of Thermi, Greece, where in recent years a series of digital services were put in operation. The final and conclusive part of this paper examines the integration of digital services within the urban realm, based on the experience of Thermi, and how this process can support the development of knowledge and innovation-led cities.

The paper discusses the integration of digital services in the physical and functional space of cities, enhancing the performance of knowledge cities. The introductory part conducts a systematic literature review regarding the evolution of the “Knowledge Cities” term, since the beginning of the millennium. The second part of the paper explores the case of “Digital Thermi”, a digital city platform for the medium-sized city of Thermi in Greece. The platform, besides representing the digital aspect of the city, encompasses specific population groups (citizens, entrepreneurs, public administration), providing user-driven, targeted e-services. The final and conclusive part of the paper examines the integration of digital services within the urban spatiality, based on the outcomes of the Digital Thermi project, and how this process can support the development of knowledge and innovation-led cities.