A Spatial Perspective of Innovation and Development: Innovation Hubs in Zambia and the UK

The rapid expansion of hundreds of innovation hubs across Africa and Europe raises compelling questions about the relevance of this dynamic sector for development. To address this, our paper presents findings of how the social and economic context of hubs influences its members’ construction of concepts of community, collaboration and development. The paper argues that what counts as innovation is often constructed in Western discourse and projected onto African realities. Doreen Massey’s theory of space-making is used as a lens to analyse how different hubs produce distinct forms of collaboration and innovation for development. The aim of this paper is to explore alternative narratives of innovation hubs through a spatial perspective with the aim of revealing a multiplicity of forms for these hubs. It draws on findings from two innovation hubs in London and Lusaka respectively, using the methodology of multiple case studies. This article thus contributes firstly to the limited empirical data on innovation hubs, and second, strengthens the theoretical framings of innovation for development which have so far emanated from a Western- centric empirical evidence base.