Abstract
Over 20 years ago a series of papers identified a strikingly dominant economic cluster – the UK’s Motorsport Valley (MSV) – which led to MSV becoming an international exemplar of concepts such as agglomeration, clusters and
knowledge-driven systems of regional development. Utilising an evolutionary perspective on cluster development, this paper asks ‘whatever happened to MSV?’. Drawing on the framework of strategic cluster coupling, four cluster development episodes are conceptualised that each depict the dynamic evolution of the cluster’s multi-scalar institutional environment, strategic coupling trajectories and economic development outcomes. Reflecting the emerging synthesis between evolutionary economic geography and geographical political economy, the paper describes an extended case study of cluster development, an evolutionary process of strategic cluster coupling and, ultimately, an example of cluster resilience. Through a focus on strategic cluster coupling, the paper provides further understanding of cluster evolution and path development mechanisms at key moments of cluster reconfiguration – and an empirical update and
continuation of the economic story and cluster lifecycle of MSV.
knowledge-driven systems of regional development. Utilising an evolutionary perspective on cluster development, this paper asks ‘whatever happened to MSV?’. Drawing on the framework of strategic cluster coupling, four cluster development episodes are conceptualised that each depict the dynamic evolution of the cluster’s multi-scalar institutional environment, strategic coupling trajectories and economic development outcomes. Reflecting the emerging synthesis between evolutionary economic geography and geographical political economy, the paper describes an extended case study of cluster development, an evolutionary process of strategic cluster coupling and, ultimately, an example of cluster resilience. Through a focus on strategic cluster coupling, the paper provides further understanding of cluster evolution and path development mechanisms at key moments of cluster reconfiguration – and an empirical update and
continuation of the economic story and cluster lifecycle of MSV.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 466-486 |
| Number of pages | 21 |
| Journal | European Urban and Regional Studies |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Early online date | 27 May 2021 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2021 |
Bibliographical note
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Funder
The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This work draws on empirical material generated over the last 20 years from over a dozen projects funded almost entirely by a range of national, regional and local public sector bodies in the UK ? such as Government Whitehall departments and units, regional and sub-regional development agencies and various tiers of local authorities. A very small proportion has been funded through private sector ?match funds?; no project has been funded or led solely by private sector organisations. Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021.Keywords
- Agents of change
- cluster evolution
- Motorsport Valley
- resilience
- strategic cluster coupling
