Clusters Old and New: The Transition to a Knowledge Economy in Canada's Regions (School of Policy Studies)

In recent years there has been a virtual explosion of interest in cluster development across North America, Europe, and newly industrialized countries. This interest has been prompted by fascination with the success of Silicon Valley at reinventing itself through successive waves of technology innovation and claims by a growing number of imitators to have replicated the conditions for its success. A growing number of clusters around the globe, from Scotland to Bangalore and from Singapore to Israel, all claim direct lineage to the original model in northern California. "Clusters Old and New" presents the initial results of a study into the formation and growth of industry clusters across Canada. Contributors investigate the process of cluster development in a wide range of locales, in knowledge-intensive sectors as well as more traditional ones, and in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan settings. The authors suggest that the process of cluster formation is complex and may extend over decades. While public policy plays a critical role in supporting the establishment and growth of clusters, the range of factors that contribute to their success is quite varied. The authors provide a basis for beginning to understand the process of cluster formation from an evolutionary perspective, as well as some criteria for determining the presence or absence of true cluster dynamics in the cases under investigation.