Title: Knowledge-based urban development of cross-border twin cities

Authors: Teemu Makkonen; Adi Weidenfeld

Addresses: Institute for Advanced Social Research, University of Tampere, Ratapihankatu 55, FI-33014 Tampere, Finland; Department of Business and Economics, University of Southern Denmark, Alsion 2, DK-6400 Sønderborg, Denmark ' Department of Economics and International Development, Middlesex University, Williams Building, NW4 4BT London, UK

Abstract: Knowledge-based urban development (KBUD) has recently emerged as a central topic of discussion among scholars and practitioners interested in urban development tools and policies. However, what has rarely been discussed before is whether KBUD can be achieved in a cross-border context. This paper sets out to propose an analytical framework for empirical studies on the shared KBUD processes of cross-border twin cities, based on indicators adapted from the literature on cross-border regional innovation systems. The proposed framework was tested with two cases: Helsinki-Tallinn and Copenhagen-Malmö. The results demonstrate the feasibility of the framework, guide potential further studies on KBUD and twin cities and raise relevant suggestions for urban policy-makers in border regions.

Keywords: border regions; Copenhagen; cross-border innovation; innovation cooperation; regional innovation systems; Helsinki; integration; knowledge-based development; urban development; KBUD; Malmo; Oresund; similarity; twin cities; Tallinn; Sweden; Finland; Denmark; Estonia.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKBD.2016.080881

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2016 Vol.7 No.4, pp.389 - 406

Received: 03 Sep 2016
Accepted: 03 Sep 2016

Published online: 09 Dec 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article