Le quartier : Soutien et générateur des interactions sociales pour l'innovation?

Abstract

This article focuses on urban geography and the neighbourhood-level dynamics of innovation. It explores the contribution of neighbourhoods to supporting innovation. In particular, it seeks to understand, on the one hand, whether and how entrepreneurs use the neighbourhood and places within it to obtain and exchange knowledge, and, on the other hand, the extent to which they reach beyond the neighbourhood, interacting with actors within the urban region and in other regions. From a case study of the Mile End neighbourhood in Montreal, our results reveal that some entrepreneurs interact locally, with the neighbourhood supporting social and economic interactions. For them, third spaces, cafés, sidewalks, as well as the buildings their firms are located in, are places of interaction: these interactions, which combine social and economic dimensions, are one of the neighborhood's main attractions. However, for other respondents the neighbourhood just represents an attractive and central location: for them, key interactions are turned towards the outside.