۱- Introduction

۲- Research objectives

۳- Theoretical framework

۴- Methodology

۵- Literature synthesis

۶- Conclusion

References

Abstract

In recent decades, industrial park (IP) development has been an important practice for regional economic development for various geographies. Eco-industrial park (EIP) development, on the other hand, has been proposed as an alternative, considering environmental problems raised from the high number of agglomerated industries in IPs. Although there are some quite progressive EIP experiences that are globally distributed, IP development remains the mainstream industrial agglomeration model and has not yet experienced a transition into EIP development. The purpose of this article is both to understand and shed some light on how such a transition can be achieved through lessons from the EIP cases in the existing state of the art and to establish a research agenda that would elaborate on sustainability transitions into EIP development. To achieve these aims, a systematic literature review involving a case survey is conducted. A theoretical framework with an evolutionary perspective is developed drawing on EIP literature and strategic niche management (SNM) framework from sustainability transitions research. This connects two streams of research that have not been closely associated in the past. While synthesising 104 EIP cases from 24 countries, three analytical processes of SNM are considered: (i) articulation of expectations and visions, (ii) building of social networks, and (iii) learning activities. This article also discusses the development of local EIP experiments and EIP niche formation at different geographies. Based on this synthesis, policy implications are suggested and research implications are provided, stressing critical and interesting issues that have not yet had an explicit focus in the literature. This article enables cross-fertilisation across globally distributed EIP cases while adding to the critical mass in leveraging EIP development.

Introduction

The importance of agglomerated industries has been reflected in the development of industrial parks (IPs), which have experienced global popularity especially since the last quarter of the 19th century, when English economist Alfred Marshall coined the concept of industrial districts (1890/1920). Meanwhile, discourse on industrial agglomerations was widened to “capture the knowledge aspect” (Nuur, 2016) of development bringing innovation to the scene, which led to the phenomenon of industrial clusters (Porter, 1990) being used interchangeably with industrial districts. Then, as the idea behind developing industrial agglomerations has passed through different stages, faced new academic debates, and changed over time, the concepts of industrial district, industrial cluster, and industrial park have been used interchangeably (Côté and Cohen-Rosenthal, 1998; Vidova, 2010). In the present article we have chosen to focus on industrial parks as their development as a new system approach started relatively recently, in early 1970s (Kumar, 2005; Tylecote, 1995; Geng et al., 2008), and our focus is on the sustainability problematique of IP development and possibilities for next-generation IPs.