Knowledge intensive regeneration for knowledge societies and ...

Arayici, Y

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Knowledge intensive regeneration for knowledge societies and economies. Yusuf Arayici * College of Science of Technology, Salford University, UK

Abstract Regeneration is deemed as the enabler to transform for societies from industrial age to knowledge. Knowledge intensive regeneration is one of the latest urban regeneration models, called “Ideopolises”, to make progress and achieve the transformation towards knowledge societies and economies. Unleashing the concealed or internal economic potential of cities and districts is a challenging one in urban regeneration and can be possible by improving the knowledge base, via encouraging enterprising and partnerships between universities and industries, and creating cluster businesses in urban regeneration programmes, in which sustainable communities vision has been very topical in UK’s regeneration experience in the last and current decades. Therefore, it is also necessary to articulate if there is any overlap between ideopolises and sustainable communities approaches. Accordingly, knowledge intensive regeneration approach can be validated or discounted towards its contribution to sustainable communities vision. Thus, paper aims i) to review the knowledge intensive regeneration context with examples around the world, ii) elaborates on the Mediacity case study project in Salford Quays and iii) critically compare the Mediacity project with the Egan wheel to explore its contribution to sustainable communities vision. Analysis from the research shows that the knowledge intensive regeneration can help significantly in achieving sustainable development and through its philosophy of strategic visioning rather than rigid master planning, it can enable continuous iterative development to address economic, physical, environment and social challenges in regeneration. Keywords: knowledge intensive regeneration, ideopolises, sustainable communities, Mediacity Project, knowledge society and economy. *Yusuf Arayici, College of Science of Technology, Salford University, UK, E Mail : [email protected]

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1. Introduction – Knowledge Society and Economy Knowledge society refers to any society where knowledge is the primary production resource instead of capital and labour: Human activities become dependent on a huge volume of knowledge and information, while Knowledge Economy is emerging from the rise in knowledge intensive economic activities, and the increasing globalization of economic affairs. The rise in knowledge intensity is being driven by the Information Technology (IT) and the increasing pace of technological change (Egedy et al, 2013). Since the marginal cost of manipulating, storing and transmitting information is virtually zero, the application of knowledge to all aspects of the economy is being greatly facilitated, and the knowledge intensity of economic activities greatly increased. Increasing the volume of knowledge intensive economic activity is essential if countries are to be prosperous. This reflects a transition from an economy based on land, labour and capital to an economy where the source of comparative advantage is likely in the production of information and knowledge (Tallon, 2010). Knowledge intensity increases productivity growth and prosperity through innovation. It is important to highlight that the knowledge economy is not just about science and technology: it is about highly skilled individuals adding value to all industries and about knowledge intensive industries, which are more likely to employ highly skilled individuals. Therefore, there is a mutual relationship between knowledge society and knowledge economies (Jones and Evans, 2008). Increasing the knowledge and skills to satisfy customers, exploit market opportunities and meet society’s aspirations for a better environment can be possible with two models. These are encouraging links between universities and industry, and cluster policy, through which high value and knowledge based industries can be harnessed (DTI 2003, Egedy et al, 2013). The international model for this approach to economic regeneration is well known: located on the outskirts of San Francisco, Stanford university played a vital role in educating the internet entrepreneurs who went on to make Silicon Valley, which is one of the most economically successful regions in the world (Yigitcanlar et al, 2008). The other model to encourage knowledge based economic development was the cluster policy. The DTI (2004) defined clusters as “concentrations of competing, collaborating and interdependent companies and institutions which are connected by a system of market and non-market links”. The idea underpinning clusters is that similar industries will locate in close proximity to one another in order to facilitate various linkages, for example, through the exchange of ideas, goods and workers. The DTI (2004) defined three critical success factors, which clearly echo the wider views of the knowledge economy: the presence of functioning networks and partnerships; a strong innovation base with supporting R&D activities, and the existence of a strong skill base. Connectivity between cities within regions is increasingly seen as one way in which to promote clustering since it can make labour more mobile and boost the efficiency of competition by increasing the areas across which companies can operate (Yigitcanlar et al, 2008).

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The key needs of knowledge based economies are the skilled workers, proximity to international airports and general standard of living factors such as quality of housing and schools (Simmie et al, 2002). The EU is also committed to a strategy of reform for Europe’s product, capital and labour markets. The aim is to create a Europe, which would be the most competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy in the world, capable of sustainable growth with more and better jobs and greater social inclusion (Jones and Evan, 2008). These commitments to aligning knowledge with economic growth revealed itself in urban regeneration projects incorporating new university buildings, halls of residence and libraries into development projects. Similarly, many cities designated learning and knowledge quarters, such as MediaCityUK in Manchester, in an effort to encourage knowledge intensive land uses in specific parts of the city. Mediacity case study will be explained later in the paper.

2. Ideopolis Ideoploses bring knowledge society, knowledge economy and the city concepts together and draws a vision of a sustainable knowledge intensive city that drives growth in the wider cityregion. It promotes a framework for developing knowledge-intensive industries that will be economically successful and improve quality of life. Successful Ideopolis needs to work with, and will drive economic growth in, other cities and areas within their region. Cities with more knowledge intensive industries and occupations are more economically successful and can improve quality of life for many local people (The Work Foundation, 2006). Ideopolises can be possible with the existence of the key factors or drivers to be considered in urban regeneration programmes. These are factors are illustrated below and articulated accordingly. Economy

People

 Building on what is there  Diverse specialisation

 Investigating in communities to link economy & regeneration

Economy and People  High skill organisations  Investing in universities, FE & schools

Place & Distinctiveness

Leadership

 Leveraging connectivity  Appropriate physical residential accommodation

 Strong leadership around a knowledge city vision  Distinctive knowledge city vision

Figure 1: Key factors driving knowledge economy any societies (Williams et al, 2008)

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Embedding Universities into Ideopolises

Universities are considered vital for knowledge intensive economy since they are both the knowledge creators and knowledge consumers (Williams, et al, 2008). It is critical to develop and implement government policies to encourage links between universities and industry. Additionally, cities should seek to develop and attract these types of new technology through expanding the higher education sector and encouraging knowledge between universities and high-tech industry in order to create high-value jobs. From Ideopolis perspective, there is an almost symbiotic relation between university and cities. Williams and Turner (et al, 2008) emphasized six key points regarding to university-city interaction:      

It is vital to recognise that different universities have different missions, and that different cities will have different visions of their economic and social future Expectations about the impact of universities need to move beyond a narrow focus on science and technology to consider their impact on sectors such as financial and business services and the creative industries Cities and universities need to identify what their distinctive strategies should be implemented to adapt to the knowledge economy, and then where they have common goals Cities and universities need to work together differently on different issues Government should review the flexibility of the funding and incentives it provides for joint working provided to both universities and to local authorities and sub-regional partnerships Cities and universities should also demonstrate the importance of overcoming cultural barriers that prevent joint working

3. Knowledge Intensive Regeneration projects for Ideopolises Knowledge Intensive regeneration projects are very large-scale projects deliberately located at the intersection of technology, urban design, and real estate development (Mansell, 2012). As mixed use projects, they are home to technology enterprises, including enterprises that leverage information technology, and to creative workers who both live and work in the development zones (Houghton and Sheehan, 2000; Tallon, 2010). Since these knowledge intensive regeenration projects aim to deploy and test current and emerging ideas about city design, planning and development to achieve ideopolises, they have key features as below (Williams, et al, 2006):      

Provide mixed use and working/living environments that anticipate emerging lifestyles Blend digital media into the physical cityscape Support business and social activity in physical and online venues Use advanced information and community-oriented technologies for efficient management of urban services Promote sustainability Express narratives that celebrate the experience of place and community 71

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Leverage transformation of educational systems Foster linkages between universities, and between universities and businesses Facilitate working relationships among small and large companies Foster new processes and arrangements for incubation

There are examples of them around the world such as in New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Belfast, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Seoul, and Singapore, which vary in size and in how their development is organized and led. Some of these examples are explained below.

3.1.

Seoul Digital Mediacity

It is located in Seoul, Korea, and covers a land of 135 acres. Date of planning and development of the project is from 2000 to present. The Seoul Digital Mediacity is a future oriented, media industry complex that serves a major centre for information and communications technologies in northeast Asia. It is also an incubator for developing new working relationships between large, established companies and start-up ventures, academic researchers, and global R&D networks. It is illustrated in figure 2a. The digital media and IT industries are attracted to the DMC because they (Ozturk et al, 2010): 1. Value the project’s spirit of innovation and human capital development 2. Recognize that the project’s mix of tenants and R&D centres offer multiple opportunities for developing their industry 3. Enjoy amenities offered on-site including parks, housing, entertainment and retail

3.2.

Milla Digital, Zaragoza

The project is located in Zaragoza, Spain, and covers 264 acres of land and is under construction since 2005. The Milla Digital development is a key element in promoting Zaragoza as a city of innovation and knowledge, where housing, private firms and public facilities are fully engaged in knowledge-intensive activities. The project is conceived as a place of recreation, learning, modernity and vitality to help (Ozturk et al, 2010):     

Create a global identity for Zaragoza Position the city as a regional centre of technological innovation Build local skills in the use and development of information technology Activate currently unutilized urban spaces Express the evolving history and culture of Zaragoza

Key properties of Milla Digital make it a good match to MediaCityUK as an ideoplosis at conceptual level. Both projects are clusters of media and creative industries and both aim to be regional centre of innovation for delivering information technology. The point that differs two projects is that Milla Digital aims to be a driving force to the city, whereas MediaCityUK is not that strongly linked to the development of the city. It is illustrated in figure 2b.

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Titanic Quarter, Belfast

It is located in Queen’s Island, Belfast, Northern Ireland and covers 185 acres of land. The master plan was completed in 2004-2006 and the completion date for the Phase one is 2009, and Phase 2 is by 2012, and further phases up to 2023. Titanic Quarter is a mix-use waterfront development project firmly rooted in the history and character of Belfast. It is illustrated in figure 2c below. The project aims to drive high quality investment and economic development in Northern Ireland, and become a high-tech hub for the telecommunications, connected health, education and media sectors. It seeks to become a major social and business meeting place with housing, commercial space, academic activities, galleries, theatres, parklands and water sports all easily connected to Belfast’s city centre. Titanic Quarter aims to be a place for tourism, working, connecting, relaxing, living and learning (Ozturk et al, 2010).

3.4.

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi

Covering 8900 acres of land, Masdar city is a huge development located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The project started in 2007 and the expected completion date is 2016. Masdar City is the world’s first clean- technology cluster located in a carbon-neutral, zerowaste smart city. The six square mile, 22 Billion US Dollars special economic zone in Abu Dhabi seeks to become a global centre for innovation, research, product development and light manufacturing in the fields of renewable energy and environmental technologies. It aims to be a functioning blueprint for sustainable living around the world (Ozturk et al, 2010). It is shown in figure 2d.

Figure 2a: an aerial view of Seoul Digital Mediacity (Joroff et al, 2009)

Figure 2b: an aerial rendering of Milla Digital, Zaragoza (Joroff et al, 2009)

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Figure 2c, A sketch of Titanic Quarter (Joroff et al, 2009)

Figure 2d, Aerial rendering of Masdar City (Joroff et al, 2009)

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This paper aims to assess the knowledge intensive regeneration model targeting ideopolises as a way forward in urban regeneration towards knowledge society and economies. For that purpose, after the thorough literature review, it compares key principles of the ideopolises concept with the features of sustainable communities context in order to verify applicability of knowledge intensive regeneration for sustainable communities vision, which has become a topical issue and challenge to achieve in UK’s regeneration programmes. Following that, impact and contribution of the Mediacity project as a knowledge intensive regeneration in Manchester is discussed in relation to the key principles of ideopolises and Egan wheel of sustainable communites. The research philosophy in the paper reflects the way the author’s beliefs in gathering, analysing, and using data about the phenomenon under investigation. It attempts to apply the existing knowledge about knowledge intensive regeneration, idepolises and sustainable communities vision and conduct comparative interpretation and diagnose the suitability for the sustainable communities vision for knowledge society and economies. Data gathering and data analysis approaches and the way the researchers apply the existing knowledge on ideopolisis and sustainable communities reflects an ontological position between objectivist and subjectivist, while the epistemological position throughout the study is interpretivist since it does mainly employ qualitative data collection and analysis methods. And the research strategy is the case study strategy as the mediacity case is the main focal of the research in order to acquire evidence based in-depth understanding and the comparative evaluation of the phenomenon in addition to the broad coverage from literature and best practices. Figure 3 illustrates the research process with data gathering and analysis methods.

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Establish contextual setting for knowledge intensive regeneration

Ideopolises for knowledge society and economies Via Literature review BIM Maturity Framework

Via Literature review and best practice projects Theoretical benchmarking of Ideopolises and SC

Sustainable Communities (SC) vision Literature review

Case Study: MediacityUK Project Data collection: Interviews/focus group study Data Analysis: Concept Mapping

Discussion of the findings/evidences onto what extent ideopolises and sustainable communities are possible via knowledge intensive regeneration regeneration

Figure 3 Research Process

4.1. Sustainable Communities and its Match with the Ideopolises Sustainable communities vision is the contemporary one for sustainable urban regeneration, which positions people at the core of the planning and development in urban regeneration programmes and projects. Egan (2004) defined it as Sustainable communities meet the diverse need of existing and future residents’ their children and other users, contribute to a high quality of life and provide opportunity and choice. They achieve this in ways that make effective use of natural resources, enhance the environment, promote social cohesion and inclusion and strengthen economic prosperity”. It is illustrated with its seven key components in figure 4 below It tackles the key dimensions of sustainable development, which are environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability (Stearns, 2012), while focusing on communities to ensure long terms success from regeneration projects.

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Figure 4: Egan Wheel of Sustainable Communities (Egan Review, 2004) However, meeting the key features or characteristics of sustainable communities can be challenging due to its complex and interrelated features such as socio-economic requirement, environmental and physical requirements, which are all correlated to each other. Skills, educational performance, housing areas, economic performance of surrounding areas, and the area demographics (social statistics of human population) are the key drivers affecting deprivation (Tallon, 2010). Having deprived regions in the surrounding area, the MediaCityUK project is evaluated in terms of how it performs over the neighbourhood in terms of key drivers affecting deprivation. Prior to discussing the Mediacity project, some other examples are elaborated below to stimulate how such projects can be stimulus to achieve vision towards knowledge societies. It is noteworthy to highlight the similarities in the key themes of both sustainable communities and ideopolises concepts. This is shown in table 1 below. Themes of Sustainable Communities Economy

Housing and Built Environment

Definitions of the SC themes

Definitions of the Ideopolis themes

Themes of Ideopolis

Thriving, with a flourishing and diverse local economy

having a diverse range of economic specialism the city is known recognising economic legacy of city strengths and weaknesses having the built and natural environment for people of knowledge society for experiential lifestyle

Economy, Diverse specialisation

Well designed and built, featuring a quality built and natural environment

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Economy, Building on what is there Place & distinctiveness Appropriate physical living places

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Transport and connectivity

Services

Environment

Social and cultural

Equity

Governance

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Well connected, with good transport services and communication linking people to jobs, health and other services Well served, with public private, community, and voluntary services that are appropriate to people’s needs and accessible to all

Environmentally sensitive, providing places for people to live that are considerate of the environment

Active, inclusive and safe, fair, tolerant, and cohesive with a strong local culture and other shared community activities

Fair for everyone, including those in other communities now and in the future Well run, with effective and inclusive participation, representation and leadership

good communications infrastructure combined with quick links both in the city and to other cities via air, rail and road

Place & distinctiveness Leveraging connectivity

investing in strategies to ensure the benefits of knowledge intensity are experienced by the whole community organisations relying on productivity via high quality jobs and highly skilled people Vibrant education sector embedded in community and economy

People, Investing in communities

good communications infrastructure combined with quick links both in the city and to other cities via air, rail and road having the built and natural environment for people of knowledge society for experiential lifestyle investing in strategies to ensure the benefits of knowledge intensity are experienced by the whole community distinctive offer for people to invest, work and live in the knowledge city, supported by diverse socio-cultural and leisure facilities investing in strategies to ensure the benefits of knowledge intensity are experienced by the whole community civic or private sector leadership around the vision of a knowledge intensive city, based on strong networks across different backgrounds

Economy and People High skills organisations Economy and people Investing in universities and schools Place & distinctiveness Leveraging connectivity

Place & distinctiveness Appropriate physical living places People, Investing in communities

Leadership, Distinctive knowledge city offer

People, Investing in communities

Leadership, supported by networks & partnerships Strong leadership around a knowledge city vision

Table 1 shows the visionary match between sustainable communities and ideopolis As shown in the table above, there is significant match and conformance with the key themes or factors of sustainable communities and ideopolises. Therefore, based on this conformance, it can be hypothetically said that sustainable communities vision can be possible with ideopolises oriented knowledge intensive regeneration programmes. This hypothesis will be further advocated on the mediaCityUK project as a knowledge intensive regeneration project. Basically, if the project has evidences for the key principles of ideopolises and the sustainable communities, the hypothesis can then be validated and relevant findings and recommendations can be made.

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Mediacity Project in Manchester

MediaCity Project is a media oriented development at Salford Quays in Greater Manchester and the UK's first purpose-built media city is set to become an internationally significant hub for the media and creative industries (PSP, 2009). It was developed and managed by a public private partnership. At the core, the relocation of several BBC departments from London together with the BBC's existing Manchester operations has taken place. Beyond BBC, world-class production facilities are available to other broadcasters and the region's burgeoning independent sector. Ultimately, MediaCityUK would be a natural destination for a whole range of businesses, spanning broadcasting, film, publishing, digital, gaming, advertising, mobile, software, ICT and academia. The first phase, covering 36 acres, was completed in 2011 but there is potential to develop up to 200 acres of land over the next decade, depending on demand. In the initial 36 acres, the followings are included, (www.mediacityuk.co.uk):           

Office space – 700,000 sq ft (65,032 sq m) (spread across five buildings) Studio block – 250,000 sq ft (23,225 sq m) Retail/leisure space – 80,000 sq ft (7,432 sq m) (divided into units) 378 apartments (divided between two towers) 218 bed hotel Five-acre public realm area, including piazza for 4,000 people A technical infrastructure supported by 18 million metres of fibre-optics which is a medium for telecommunication Tram terminus, extending the current line Foot bridge across the Manchester Ship Canal, linking Salford Quays with Trafford Wharf 300 cycle bays Multi-storey car park with approximately 2,200 spaces

It forms an iconic architectural trio with The Lowry and the Imperial War Museum North. MediaCityUK aims to provide an environment where the creative and media industries can thrive. In the future, it potentially could accommodate employment opportunities for 15,500 people, training posts for 1,500 people per year and space for 1,150 media, creative and related businesses. BBC moved around 2,500 staff to MediaCityUK; involving relocating five London-based departments, along with the entire local and network broadcasting. The University of Salford also has a presence at MediaCityUK, with a brand new campus for more than 800 students and staff (Urban Vision & Salford City Council, 2009). In addition to one of Europe’s biggest high definition studio facilities, MediaCityUK centred on a waterfront public realm area twice the size of London’s Trafalgar Square, it could be a destination in its own right, capable of accommodating large scale events for up to 9,000 people. Figure 5 shows scenes from Mediacity.

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Figure 5 shows scenes from Mediacity Project

4.3.

Analysis of Mediacity as a Knowledge Intensive Regeneration Project

Following the literature review as a secondary method of data collection, extensive interviews were carried out with four professionals and a community representative involved in the Mediacity project in a semi-structured way. Each professional was from a different organization –the main developer of the project, Salford local authority, Salford Central Urban Regeneration Company, and the Mediacity Director of Salford University- while the community representative was a local GP (General Practitioner, a medical doctor). Each interview ran about 2.5 hours. Interviews were recorded and key findings from the interviews were holistically amalgamated into a concept map, which were then later discussed in the focus group meetings for the verification and validation of the findings. The participants in the focus group meetings were from academia, professionals and the local people. 4.3.1.

To What Extent Mediacity as Knowledge Intensive Regeneration Project Promising Ideopolises and Sustainable Communities?

From the interviews, it was stressed that the project had a strong knowledge-intensive economy, based on the creative industry. Engagement of the university was identified as a key point that makes the project different from being only a business cluster and university’s role in promoting CPDs and interaction with companies and local community. The concept 79

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map in Figure 6 was developed in the focus meetings. While yellow boxes are the ideopolis themes, oranges are the features of the Mediacity project and greens are the themes of sustainable communities. MediaCityUK has an improving transport infrastructure with improvements in trams, canal and parking facilities and as a regeneration project it transforms the Brownfield location in the Quays region into an iconic development that has the potential to add value to the surrounding. The project also has a purpose built ICT infrastructure that enables MediaCityUK to virtually extend its borders and remotely communicate with other knowledge centres within the city region and beyond and this infrastructure has an important role to assist knowledge based economy and knowledge societies. In terms of economic sustainability, MediaCityUK promotes knowledge economy by clustering media and creative industries. The project offers office spaces with leasing options and that makes it accessible or the small and medium companies along with the big enterprises. Joint venture opportunities between tenant companies have a great potential to form a knowledge society. On the other hand, housing is far beyond the local community can afford and that can be a threat to community cohesion by weakening the ownership feeling. In terms of social and cultural, embedding Salford University and Oasis Academy into the business cluster is highly critical. The University of Salford will be offering Media Content Lab to support knowledge society and is very keen to offer CPD programmes for the local community to gain skills and increase employability. The university plays an important role on the knowledge intensive economy and formation of a knowledge society. Employability should always be on the focus in order not to isolate the MediaCityUK from the surrounding deprived regions. The Oasis Academy promotes CPD and additionally it will contribute to health issues by offering walking groups and healthy living courses. MediaCityUK has recreational facilities like piazza and crèche for the local people and visitors to benefit and this would have a positive impact on community cohesion. It was clear that that the project transformed the Brownfield in Salford Quays area into an iconic development and the project offers recreational facilities not only for the residents of MediaCityUK but to the local people living in the neighbourhood. And knowledge-intensive industries were involved in the project which is the key driver to become a hub for creative industry based knowledge economy.

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Figure 6 illustrates the features of Mediacity project in relation to ideopolis and sustainable communities’ themes 81

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The investigation of how the functions of the buildings would have impact on the local community in terms of public health, employability and education was discussed. The effect of MediaCityUK on health and employability should be investigated to measure the improvements in the long term. Gaining skills and creating jobs were stated as key drivers of improving employability. Promoting healthy living, which was also issued by the Oasis Academy, and a proposed NHS Walk-In centre were expressed as contributors to health issues. Further on social sustainability, it was also emphasized that education was embedded into community and economy by CPD (Constructive Personal Development) offers from Salford University and the Oasis Academy. On the other hand, from the sustainable community point of view, although the MediaCity project is promising better future and aspirations for locals in the long run, the project still had a weak community partner while it has strong knowledge based economy and property development remit. This lacking community emphasis can limit the trickle down impact of the project on the surrounding areas in Salford Quays and it is questionable that how accessible and applicable those educational services for the existing local surrounding communities. This implies that MediaCity project also can confront similar problems with the London Docklands project that was regarded as “economic success”, but many authorities and research bodies call it “island of wealth” which indicates failure in terms of social benefits to the local community. In terms of environmental stewardship and sustainability, it is an environmentally friendly as it integrates sustainable energy technologies like CHP and absorption chillers to its energy infrastructure. Also, the project is known to be the first development to obtain BREEAM certified that covers energy performance and efficient use of resources during construction and operation and maintenance phases. From economic sustainability point of view, the project has a strong planning and vision for knowledge-intensive economy that is based on the specialist cluster formed by gaming, broadcasting and other creative industries. The project offers good opportunities for joint ventures between the involving companies and that cooperation has a big potential for a knowledge society. In addition, technology dimension was also discussed too. For example, it was said that the process of urban development in the 20th century, characterized by suburban expansion and urban redevelopment, many huge and sophisticated complexities of urban structures are erected in developed countries. However, with the conventional technologies focused on the construction of structures, it has become difficult to keep urban spaces adaptable to environmental constraints and economic, social and cultural changes. Thus, it is also difficult to realization of sustainable and effective visions for knowledge intensive regeneration projects with the existing methods and technologies in engineering and architecture. In other words, similar to the knowledge based sectors, the construction industry should also change towards a knowledge based sector capable of providing sustainable built assets for knowledge society through sustainable design and construction. This is because, it is difficult with conventional technologies to meet social demands for the upgrading of social capital in a sustainable manner and for the regeneration of attractive urban space that is not only safe and highly efficient but also conscious of historical, cultural and local identities to guarantee a high quality of life for all. Thus, there is a need to go beyond the boundaries of conventional technologies of construction and structural design and to integrate the following technologies: 82

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Technology concerned with environmental and risk management Technology of conservation and regeneration with due consideration to the local characteristics of existing structures including historical and cultural resources Technologies of communication, consensus building, plan making and space management to coordinate and integrate the individual activities initiated by various actors of society

BIM (Building Information Modelling) for building lifecycle management was exampled as an innovative parametric building information modelling and simulation technology for a lean process oriented way of working methodology for sustainable design and construction to transform into the knowledge economy. Furthermore, at urban scale planning and analysis, integrating Building Information Modelling (BIM) and GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to simulate futuristic socio-economic and environmental impacts of the regeneration projects in relation to ideopolises is considered as a way forward. The main concentration is the ability to provide balanced and well-linked sustainable solutions through the simultaneous consideration of social-cultural, economic, physical, environmental, community and institutional needs as a way forward to knowledge society and cities. Thus, it was agreed that those concepts and technologies have the potential to add value to the sustainable communities.

5. Conclusion In the paper, knowledge intensive regeneration, ideopolises and sustainable communities, and the mutual link between them are established. Following that, this then led to the exploration of the specific example of knowledge intensive regeneration projects such as Mediacity in Manchester. It is an iconic development that transforms the appearance of Salford Quays. It is environmentally sustainable, and has a continuously improving transportation infrastructure. It also aimed to have a positive social impact on the local community. Thus, its relevance to idoepolises and sustainable communities are discussed. The existence of key features and principles of ideopolises in the Mediacity project makes it a good example of knowledge intensive regeneration. Briefly means of new geographical clusters where knowledge intensive human capital, social capital and specific business sectors are combined. The project has a good base to promote economic, physical and environmental sustainability and to develop strong networks of knowledge intensive business that employs knowledge creators and executors. Therefore, there is strong evidence that it will contribute to Manchester in the transformation towards being an ideopolis. But the problem is that, is it possible for the MediaCityUK project to achieve an “overall success” for sustainable communities? Is the “base” of the project strong enough to contribute social sustainability just like it does contribute to environmental sustainability?. Is there enough employment opportunities, affordable housing for the existing surrounding communities. On the other hand, it is for sure that it provides aspirations and pursuing better life and career for the youngsters in the local community. However, these are all still questionable as the social benefits of the project for the existing local people is limited in the short and mid-term while in the long term social benefits and trickle down impact could be feasible. Thus, it would be 83

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unfair to classify it as failure from the social sustainability point of view as it is too early to measure and judge social impact of the project on local communities, which requires longer term to observe and assess the social improvements in the surrounding areas. In conclusion, knowledge intensive regeneration approach such as Mediacity can help for achieving the ideopolis concept for knowledge society and economies, while its impact and contribution will be limited in achieving sustainable communities vision although theoretically there is a strong match between them. This is because of the core people focused are different in these approaches: while ideopolis attracts knowledge workers including knowledge creators and executors with an experiential living style and environment, sustainable communities approach centres on the existing local communities. Therefore, knowledge intensive regeneration may even lead to gentrification if it is implemented in a deprived area. In that case, there is no one solution fits for all and it is not true to define an “overall success”, which is not practical but highly demanded in academic literature.

6. References DTI, (2004), “A Practical Guide to Cluster Development”, HMSO, London DTI, (2003), “Competing in Global Economy: the Innovation Challenge” HMSO, London Egan Review (2004), “The Egan Review, Skills for Sustainable Communities”, the Office of Deputy Prime Minister of UK, RIBA publications, www.ribabookshops.com Houghton, J., Sheehan, P., (2000), “A Primer on the Knowledge Economy”, Victoria University Press: Australia Egedy T., Redmond D., Ehrlich, K., (2013), “Urban Regeneration and Housing as Potential Tools for Enhancing the Creative Economy”, chapter in the book “place making and policies for competitive cities” edited by Musterd, S., Kovacs, Z., Johns Wiley publisher, West Sussex, UK Jones, P., Evans, J., 2008,” Urban Regeneration in the UK”, SAGE Publications, London Joroff, M., Frenchman, D., Rojas, F., (2009) “New Century City Developments – creating extraordinary value”, Third NCC Global Workshop, 2009, Seoul, Korea Mansell, R., (2012), “ICT, discourse and knowledge societies: Implications for policy and practice”, book chapter in “From NWICO to WSIS: 30 Years of Communication Geopolitics - Actors and Flows ...” edited by Divina Frau-Meigs, Jeremie Nicey, Michael Palmer, Julia Pohle, Patricio Tuppe, Intellect, Bristol, UK Ozturk, Z, Arayici, Y, Sharman, HK and Egbu, CO 2010, Improving communities through knowledge intensive regeneration - Mediacity Iconic Project: 1st deliverable as a project report about diagnosis, Project Report, University of Salford PSP, (2009),” Beating the Crunch - MediaCityUK boosts the local economy”, MediaCity UK Public Sector Partnership Press Release 84

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