Terraforming Tech City: place branding and spatial imaginaries in inner East London

Max Nathan; Emma Vandore; Georgina Voss

Terraforming Tech City: place branding and spatial imaginaries in inner East London

Max Nathan, Emma Vandore, Georgina Voss

Research output: Working paper/Preprint › Working paper

Abstract

This paper performs a mixed-methods analysis of place-branding strategies developed in the ‘Tech City’ cluster initiative in Inner East London, drawing on ethnographic material, semi-structured interviews and visual content. Using Jessop’s concept of the spatial imaginary, we explore key foundational geographies, trace the emergence of the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and Tech City concepts between 2008 and 2014, then discuss Tech City’s governance and progress, highlighting both day-to-day challenges and more basic tensions. We contrast this experience with that of ‘Here East’, a new regeneration space across the city in the Olympic Park.

Original language	English
Pages	1-36
Number of pages	36
Publication status	Published - 1 Feb 2016

Bibliographical note

A version of this paper is currently revise and resubmit with the Journal of Economic Geography.

Keywords

economic development
urban governance
cities
clusters
spatial imaginaries
place branding

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

http://epapers.bham.ac.uk/2098/Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA)

Cite this

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title = "Terraforming Tech City: place branding and spatial imaginaries in inner East London",

abstract = "This paper performs a mixed-methods analysis of place-branding strategies developed in the {\textquoteleft}Tech City{\textquoteright} cluster initiative in Inner East London, drawing on ethnographic material, semi-structured interviews and visual content. Using Jessop{\textquoteright}s concept of the spatial imaginary, we explore key foundational geographies, trace the emergence of the {\textquoteleft}Silicon Roundabout{\textquoteright} and Tech City concepts between 2008 and 2014, then discuss Tech City{\textquoteright}s governance and progress, highlighting both day-to-day challenges and more basic tensions. We contrast this experience with that of {\textquoteleft}Here East{\textquoteright}, a new regeneration space across the city in the Olympic Park.",

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AB - This paper performs a mixed-methods analysis of place-branding strategies developed in the ‘Tech City’ cluster initiative in Inner East London, drawing on ethnographic material, semi-structured interviews and visual content. Using Jessop’s concept of the spatial imaginary, we explore key foundational geographies, trace the emergence of the ‘Silicon Roundabout’ and Tech City concepts between 2008 and 2014, then discuss Tech City’s governance and progress, highlighting both day-to-day challenges and more basic tensions. We contrast this experience with that of ‘Here East’, a new regeneration space across the city in the Olympic Park.

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Terraforming Tech City: place branding and spatial imaginaries in inner East London

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this