This book examines local 'Islands of Innovation' where research and industrial expertise are concentrated, along with areas where traditional industrial regions have passed through a process of innovative restructuring.

There is also a discussion of the innovative development of old industrial regions and the centripetal forces of networking innovation in Europe against a peripherisation of both southern and eastern central European countries. The critical role of government policies and the different paths for innovation is highlighted in order to develop an understanding of the opportunities for old and traditional regions and for peripheral regions. This book will be essential in our understanding of current processes and their roots in earlier periods of development. It also shows how innovation and advanced industrial development are not merely economic processes by considering non-economic conditions in government and society.

Part 1: Introduction 1. Globalisation and Selective Localisation of Industry and Innovation - The Role of Government in Regionalising Socio-Economic Development Ulrich Hilpert Part 2: Regionalisation and Islands of Innovation 2. Poly-centred Innovation and Governmental Structures - Germany and France in Comparison Ulrich Hilpert 3. Islands of Innovation in the UK Economy: High Technology,
Networking and Public Policy Desmond Hickie 4. Selective Performance amid Government Failure - The Complexities of the Italian Regionalism in Innovation Helmut Druke
5. Islands of Innovation and Clustering Decisions of U.S. High-Tech Firms: Theory, Evidence and Patterns Vijai P. Singh, Thomas Allen and Ulrich Hilpert Part 3: Restructuring Old Industrialised Locations 6. Old and Traditional Industrial Regions on the Archipelago Europe - Governmental Systems and Regionalisation of Innovation Ulrich
Hilpert 7. Dynamics of Growth and Restructuring in the Pittsburgh Metropolitain Region Frank Giarratani, Vijai P. Singh and Christopher Briem 8. Liguria: A Region in Transition Helmut Druke Part 4: Geographic Periphery and Advanced Socio-economic Development 9. Processes of Peripherization Through International Innovation Systems - The Role of European Policies at Disadvantaged Locations Dietmar Bastian and Ulrich Hilpert 10. Competencies and Opportunities - Building an Island of Innovation Apart from Europe's Innovative Centre Rasmus Nelund and Jesper Norus 11. Regionalisation and De-industrialisation in Eastern Europe's Transition Economies Dietmar Bastian Part 5: Conclusions 12. How the Regional Factor Comes in. New Paths and Conditions for Industrial Policies Ulrich Hilpert