Processes involved in the production of knowledge have long been exiled to the interiors of extra-urban science parks. In recent times, the emergence of a new conception of knowledge as an open resource and of innovation as a non-linear and iterative process has stimulated a rethink of urban space as an alternative environment to the standard ‘islands of innovation’. The planning challenges that this involves for urban space result from the need to open up innovation processes to broader layers of urban society, while at the same time maintaining the operational closed nature of science parks. This paper examines the spatial structure that emerged from the meeting of the needs of a city - Barcelona - to attract high-tech innovative companies with the major urban regeneration project 22@ Bcn, discussed here as an attempt to create an new generation district for innovation.
Keywords: Science park; social innovation; city and campus